Love in Bloom
by Yashi-Sama
Summary: Take place after Saki's championship victory. Toyone, infatuated by Saki decided to move to kiyosumi high. And a dismayed Teru who starts noticing Saki. And let's add bits of Nodoka's jealousy. Poor Saki... Rated T for now, Rating subjects to change. For those who are wondering where the mahjong battles are, there will be lots for chapter 5
1. Chapter 1

**Love in Bloom  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own saki or any of the characters that stars on saki  
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**AN : Hi ho! my 2nd story ever published, hope you guys will like this 3 and don't forget to R&R okay!  
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It has been a fruitful year for a girl named Miyanaga Saki. This year, she regained her love for the game she cherished and won the championships in both the individual and in the team competitions. Her name now rings loud in the world of mahjong and every time she would utter the simple syllable 'rin' her opponents would tremble in fear while the audience lean on the edge of their seats for they know that the next syllables would be '-shan kaihou'. Saki showed that in her hands these words 'rinshan kaihou' are synonymous to victory itself.

However, despite the victories she still had that sad frown on her face that she kept to herself. Her main motivation that pushed her to join the competitions has not been fulfilled. After dethroning Shiraitodai the ceremonies that came to follow her victory prevented her from talking with her sister. The last time she saw Teru Miyanaga was when she was holding the trophy for her team. Teru had an emotionless look on her face with her arms folded on her chest. Saki couldn't tell if her sister was happy for her or if she was still angry. When she was about to chase after her older sister it was already too late for the previous champion had already departed along with her team back to their school.

In the individuals, Teru did not join the competition so Saki did not have that opportunity. Despite that, Saki managed to motivate herself to destroy the competition mercilessly even against her own teammate Nodoka Haramura.

It's currently 1:00 past noon and Saki is once again in the field outside her school.

"Saki!" A familiar voice called out to Saki who was sitting on the grass under the shade of a big sakura tree.

"Hmm? Kyou-chan." Saki turned to see a blonde boy hurriedly rushing to her side. She remembered that this was how they met when she first saw Nodoka.

"Why didn't you attend the thanks giving party the school prepared for the mahjong club?" The boy asked. There was supposed to be a party that the whole school prepared in their honor but Saki apparently purposely missed the event. Instead, she's outside while reading a new book that she borrowed from the library.

"A- Ah well- I…" Saki struggled to come up with a better excuse than 'I didn't want to'. She scratched the back of her head frantically as she dropped her book to give Kyoutarou a good reply.

Suga looked at Saki with a skeptical look. As a longtime friend he knew that in this state interrogating Saki more would be just a waste of time.

"Don't worry about it already, the president already gave them a good excuse. She said that you had to rest because of the consecutive competitions." Kyoutarou Suga relieved the panicked Saki. It was a good excuse for it was only Saki who was forced to play for three whole months non-stop because of the two competitions. The individuals forced her to play a whole week without rest compared to Nodoka who dropped out on the seventh day after her hopes were crushed by Saki herself who eliminated her with a direct hit thirteen orphans.

"Really?"

Saki sighed in relief.

"I have to thank her later then." She smiled as she placed her hands near her chest happy that she didn't have to face the crowd of students and teachers. It's not that she doesn't enjoy being in the spotlight but because she had other things to think about right now. Most important among those things is 'how to talk to Teru'.

"Whenever I see you like this I still wonder how a useless girl like you can be a champ." Suga shrugged and sighed as he criticized Saki's bad habit of easily panicking.

"Don't call me useless!" Saki pouted. She didn't appreciate being teased that way but she's never one to be irritated easily.

"Well, I'm going. I was just ordered by the president to tell you to come to the club later. Apparently we'll have visitors today and she said that you must come." Said Suga before running off to the cafeteria.

"Visitors?" Saki asked herself silently as she sat back under the tree with her book in her hands. Recently, many visitors have been coming in the club. Just two weeks ago before the individuals some people from Kazekoshi visited them for a training match. She can still remember the shock on Kana's and Mihoko's face when she unconsciously scored +-0 against them for four consecutive times. It was not until her fifth game with them that she steam rolled them with consecutive high scoring yakus that led to their utter defeat.

Ding Dong Ding Dong

The school bell that signaled the end of their lunch break finally broke the serenity of the campus. Saki lazily sat up and slowly made her way to her class. People looked her way as she walked in the halls of the school. She could hear them talk about her about things that made her blush a bit.

"I-Isn't that Miyanaga Saki the individual champion and overall MVP in the Mahjong Nationals?" One random boy in the same year as Saki asked a companion of his in a soft whisper.

"Y-yeah, she even defeated her own teammate the middle school individual champion Haramura Nodoka." A girl student replied to that question while looking at the current champ with awe and sincere admiration.

"Isn't she kinda cute?" Another male student asked a friend of his.

"K-Keh!" Upon hearing the word 'cute' used to describe her, Saki gasped a bit as her face flustered deep red. She hurried to her classroom in futile attempt to hide her blushing face. She was still pinkish when she opened the sliding door of her classroom where she was met by yet another unexpected turn of events.

"Welcome back Miyanaga San!" Said the whole class while popping up some confetti horns and blowing on whistles.

"E-Eh? What's this?" Saki was surprised. Since this morning everyone in her class was quiet that she thought they didn't know or rather, didn't care much about her accomplishments which she didn't mind much.

"As your classmates we already had a feeling that you'd skip the party held by the staff in the gym so we had our own planned." One of her classmates grinned.

"B-But this is-…" Saki was taken aback as she tearfully sighed. As much as she appreciated the thought, she felt awkward dodging one party only to be caught in another one.

3:00 and not too far away from the prefecture of Nagano two people were on their way to Kiyosumi High. They were in a white van, one of them was an old lady driving the van and the other was a tall first year.

"Are we there yet?" Asked the first year who had long black hair to match her white eyes.

"Oh my Toyone, please sit down. Yes we're almost there, only about half an hour more."

Replied the old lady.

"Toyone…"

The old lady was silent for awhile. It was as if she was lost in thought for that moment. Toyone noticed the change in her mentor's atmosphere and paused to listen.

"I'm sorry that you have to come with me and change schools." The old woman apologized. From her voice one could sense hesitation for she, even with all her wisdom, didn't know how Toyone would react to her apology.

"Kumakura-sensei…"

Toyone was surprised that her mentor was still thinking about that. It's true, she indeed felt lonely when she had to say goodbye to Sae Usuzawa and the rest of her team.

"It can't be helped if sensei has to transfer to Nagano because of her job right?"

Toyone smiled. She didn't want to worry her mentor any longer.

"Besides, Usuzawa and the others are still my friends. I will be able to meet with them as long as I play mahjong. I know it."

Toyone had hopeful eyes as she said this with a fist in her hand. Toshi Kumakura could not help but smile on how much her prodigy has grown.

"Besides I want to meet with Miyanaga Saki. I've fought her twice but I never got the chance to speak with her." The tall girl remembered her matches with the monster of Kiyosumi. The first match was in the captain battle of the team competition while the second match was in the semi-finals of the individuals.

"Oh? You suddenly got interested in Miyanaga? You've been talking about nothing except her the past week. Wasn't Jindai your favorite player?" The old lady had a smile on her face as she said this to Toyone.

"No! W-Well I… I mean Jindai-san is amazing but Miyanaga-san is… I-It's not like I…" Toyone gasped heavily as her face swelled pink.

"Ahaha"

The old lady laughed as Toyone dropped her hat on the floor while stuttering.

"Just relax we're almost there." Said the old lady and calmed the frantic Toyone.

Thirty minutes from then, inside the Mahjong Clubroom of Kiyosumi High, the members of the club have finally gathered inside. The first one to arrive was Yuki Kataoka who squealed 'I'm first inside!' the moment she steps foot inside.

"Geez, so energetic after everything that happened, what exactly are you?" Mako who came inside together along with Hisa had a weird look on her face as she observed their vanguard pranced around the room before going outside the window and unto the terrace that served as the club's balcony. There she laid on a beach chair and acted as if she was sun bathing with her clothes on and a glass of lemonade beside her.

"After that party I don't think it's wise to do anything today." Hisa said this after a groan. She had her hand on forehead with a pained look on her face.

"They do say that rest is also a part of training." Kyoutarou Suga, the only boy in the mahjong club entered the room after overhearing the conversation.

"Yes but we'll have a visitor today, we shouldn't let them see us slacking off." Mako replied to Suga.

"No, Suga-kun is right. It's worse if they see us training ourselves in such a state. Instead we should just talk to them casually." Hisa took Kyoutarou's idea over Mako's but the green haired glasses girl did not seem to mind it.

"Okay, by the way, who are the visitors anyway? Kazekoshi again?" Mako adjusted her glasses to make that 'aha' look.

"Nope, we will be having a transferee here. A friend of mine called and asked me to welcome the newcomer. She'll be joining our club." Hisa explained.

"Oh! Our first new member since Saki?" Mako clapped her hands once to show her excitement.

"We'll have a new member?" A new voice joined the conversation as a pink haired girl entered the premises. This girl had a gifted and well nurtured front compared to the girls that came before her.

"Yes and my friend specifically said that this new member wants to meet Saki. A big fan maybe?" Hisa shrugged before slumping down on the bed she usually slept on when not holding club meetings or games.

"Ah, so that's why you wanted me to tell Saki." Suga remembered the mission he was given that he accomplished two hours ago.

"Yep, is she coming?" Hisa asked.

"She did say that she was." Suga replied and then nodded. Just as he said that, a girl came in rushing through the door and slammed it shut immediately.

"Hwoah Saki calm down." Mako shrieked after seeing Saki almost teleport herself there.

"I'm sorry. I had to make some detours." She apologized while trying to catch her breath. She looked really exhausted and sweaty.

"I guess it's not that easy being popular Saki-chan." Mako snickered.

"Yeah, I've heard they've even made a fan club for you." Nodoka interrupted. She had this serene look on her face but she sounded rather teasingly.

"It can't be helped. To be the overall MVP of the team competition and the individual champion? That's like being the champion of two weight divisions in boxing." Suga replied. He had a smirk on his face.

"I- I don't really think it's that much of a big deal…" Saki was blushing again because of all her teammate's complements but tries to shrug it off humbly.

"Were you able to talk to your sister Saki?" Nodoka asked. After everything, they've become close enough to call each other's names without using honorifics.

Saki waved her head in a 'no' gesture.

"All the commotion in the award ceremonies prevented me from doing that. But I plan on visiting her in the near future."

Saki shared to her friend her plan.

"How about you Nodoka? Was your father…?" Saki paused. She remembered that Nodoka was a little sensitive about topics regarding her father's attitude towards mahjong and Nodoka's actions.

Nodoka smiled upon hearing the topic.

"Thanks to you Saki, father finally acknowledged my hobby and now I don't have to go with him every time he has to transfer." Nodoka replied with a big uplifting smile on her face.

"Good for you." Mako interrupted with a happy remark.

"Hurray we can be with Nodoka more!" Kataoka Yuki who jumped inside from the window rushed to Nodoka and Saki and started giving them hugs.

"You're too giddy…" Nodoka criticized Yuki's over playful demeanor while returning her embrace as Saki did.

"It's all because of Saki-chan and Nodoka-chan!" Replied Yuki who continued to cling on Saki who tolerated it and just giggled with her.

"Nope, you're always giddy." Kyoutarou added teasingly.

Everybody laughed after Kyoutarou's comment except Yuki who stepped on the poor boy's foot. Suga winced painfully as he hopped on one foot while clutching the other which Kataoka crushed. Their fun was interrupted when a knock on the door broke through their conversation.

"Ah, that must be them." Hisa fixed her red ribbon as she approached to open the door. The others eagerly waited to see who it was while pretending to be calm except for Yuki who was pretty vocal with her excitement.

Upon opening the door they were immediately met by an old lady with a monocle. She was smiling gently at Hisa as she said 'hello' and introduced herself.

"Hello, my name is Toshi Kamakura." The old lady bowed.

"A- Ah! My name is Takei Hisa, I'm very pleased to meet you. Please come in." Hisa bowed deeper as common courtesy in Japanese culture.

"Oh!? A-Aren't you a professional player?" Mako gasped after she remembered the old lady's pictures in some magazines that she distributed to the diners and the mahjong players in her shop.

"The very same." Kamakura replied humbly with a smile.

"Then that means the transferee is…" Hisa placed a finger above her lips wondering who it was. She heard that it was a first year, incoming second year this coming year.

"Please come in." The old lady looked at the door where a tall girl appeared meekly looking at everyone. The room froze as she entered with everyone's mouth dropping open.

"You are…" Saki, who was very familiar with the face placed a hand on her mouth as if to muffle her gasps.

"I- I'm Toyone Anetai, I'll be in your care from now on if you'll have me." The girl was blushing brightly as she bowed in front of the club.

"E-Eh?! Iwatei's Toyone?!" Yuki who was especially surprised screamed out loud.

"Because of my job I had to transfer here in Nagano and this child had to come with me because of some unfortunate reasons. She specifically chose Kiyosumi." Toshi explained their situation to the club president who merely nodded politely.

"I understand. But why Kiyosumi? With Toyone-san's skills she can easily make the ranks in Kazekoshi." Asked Hisa. Kazekoshi is indeed the best university if you're a mahjong player. There, they're well-funded and has a long history of great players that have dominated the interhigh and the nationals.

"Well it's because-…" before the old lady could explain why. Toyone suddenly ran up to a certain short-brown-haired girl and held her hand.

"M-Miyanaga Saki-san I- I'm very pleased to finally meet you like this!" The girl said with a very nervous voice as her hands trembled around Saki's small hands.

"I-I feel the same, it's nice to meet you too Anetai-san." Saki's forehead was dripping with cold sweat as she felt awkward about this.

"Ah… I see…" Hisa shrugged as she was able to answer her own question as she pieced together everything.

"I- I watched your match against Jindai-san from Eisui, Nelly-san from Rinkai and Toki-san from Senriyama. It was really amazing!" Toyone praised the champion in high spirit as she continued to grip Saki's hands tighter.

"T-Thank you very much. The championship was great but I enjoyed our match as well." Saki replied with a roundabout praise for Toyone.

"Really? But I couldn't give Miyanaga-san much of a challenge. Both in the team competition and in the individuals." Toyone remembered on how Saki easily bypassed her fortune abilities. Playing against this fragile little girl was like having her powers stripped from her and made her look normal.

"That's not true because in the individuals I was more worried about Toyone-san than Hatsumi Usuzumi and Izumi Nijou-san." Saki remembered that match. That match was anything but a close match but it was also anything but easy. It was there that Saki truly demonstrated her ability to crush other's abilities when she destroyed the miko's demon gates and silenced Toyone's rokuyou. In the end, Saki led a safe distance of a hundred thousand points next to the second place, Toyone, and crushed their dreams on the spot.

"So when will Anetai-san start to attend class?" Hisa asked Kamakura as she left the two to bond together.

"I already have all the necessary documents. She'll be attending regularly starting tomorrow."

The old lady replied.

"If it's alright… I've been interested in Miyanaga-san's abilities lately as well. Would it be fine if we played mahjong for awhile?" The old lady looked at Toyone and Saki as she asked Hisa the favor.

"I'm fine with it, Saki is that all right?" Hisa turned to Saki who nodded almost obediently.

"M-May I play too?!" Toyone was very nervous as she asked her mentor.

"Of course, Mahjong is placed by four players isn't it?"

Toshi Kamakura replied with a smile.

"Who will be our fourth?" Toshi asked the club and all were very eager to reply but someone stood out more than the others. A brave pink-haired girl eagerly raised her hand and volunteered to fight in the monster battle.

"I would like to play if that's alright." Haramura Nodoka who had a slight frown on her face volunteered. She felt rather annoyed to see someone get close to Saki like that for reasons that she herself could not understand.

"Haramura Nodoka? I've also wanted to play against you for so long." The old lady clapped her hands once as a gesture of her appreciation.

"Nodoka! Don't forget this." Hisa got a penguin stuffed toy which was on the table and flung it to Nodoka who caught it with both arms.

"Etopen!" Haramura was almost jubilant when she hugged the penguin and sat beside the mahjong table where the three other players waited.

"Let's play then." Said the old lady who sat in the position of East and therefore is the dealer.

Everybody decided on a double hanchan which was the usual rule for the team competitions. Saki sat directly in front of the old lady in the west while Toyone sat excitedly beside her at north. Nodoka settled for the South. Their game started with Toshi discarding the character of west wind.

"Pon!" Toyone said aloud while setting aside the set of three west winds that she gathered thanks to the old lady's discard.

"_A three of a kind, this early in the hand?_" Nodoka Haramura who was in South drew the six of characters, now she had a full suit and it was easy to tell what she needed to discard. After taking a couple of seconds to think she tossed out the north of winds.

"Pon!" Toyone called out again. It was her second set of winds that she has now beside her.

"_Toyone began using her abilities._"

The old woman smiled for she was very familiar with Toyone's ability to make a hand fast by calling on discards. It was one of her rokuyou.

"_In Toyone's next turn, she'd probably get the last set of whatever she need and win the hand, probably even a Yakuman. What will you do Kiyosumi's captain?_" The old lady secretly glanced at Saki to try and figure out what the captain was thinking. To her surprise the girl was smiling when she expected a troubled look to cloud that cute face.

"Here!" Saki threw out the south of winds. Toyone's face brightened as she saw the tile drop in front of her.

"Pon!" Shouted Toyone. She only needed a pair of anything now to win the hand, and a Yakuman at that. She excitedly threw her unpaired one of circles.

"Ron!" A voice stopped Toyone from celebrating.

"Chooren-pooto (Nine Lanterns)."

Saki said this with a humble smile on her face as she revealed her hand. All circles, two one of circles, three nine of circles, one of each other kind of circle in between one and nine, combine that with the one of circle Toyone just discarded was one of the highest yakus.

"That will be thirty-two thousand." She finished her statement.

"U-Unbelievable!" Toyone stood up as if a bolt of lightning just jolted her insides. Her own power was just used against her. Her Yakuman was just countered by another Yakuman. Furthermore, it was as if Saki knew that she would discard the one of circle.

"Well I guess that does it for this match, let's try to last longer next time." The old lady teased Toyone a bit who was still giddy from that experience.

"Ngghh p-please one more time!" Toyone bowed down in front of Saki.

"H-Hai!" Saki nodded her head as a drop of sweat streaked down her cheek.

The group restarted the match and this time Saki was given the privilege of being in East. She opened the match by discarding a five of characters. Toyone who was hailing from the South discarded another five of characters which she considered to be a 'safe tile' considering that it was the same tile Saki discarded. Toshi in the west threw away her one of circles while Nodoka discarded a seven of sticks after a few seconds of pause.

After a three rounds of discards it was Nodoka who broke the stalemate by declaring a ten-thousand points counter riichi. She had a confident look on her face that says 'I have a good wait'. Saki almost instantly discarded her five of sticks.

"Riichi!" Declared Toyone. It was one of her special abilities, the ability to pursue the riichi of another and declare her own riichi.

"_Should I let these children battle it out in this hand?_" Toshi Kumakura decided to bail out by breaking her three closed sequences and discarding a safe five of sticks.

"_This girl always calls a riichi after someone calls a riichi. I do not believe in such superstition._" Nodoka decided to play normally. She discarded the tile she drew immediately as being in riichi did not allow her to change her hand.

"Pon!" Saki said loudly before putting aside a trio of the four of circles which included Nodoka's discard. This move effectively disrupted the drawing order which was fatal for Toyone who had to draw the tile which came before her winning tile that Toshi drew.

"_This is Toyone's winning tile isn't it?_" Toshi looked at the one of characters in her hand. She was correct for Toyone was waiting on it to win with a 'seven pairs, yaku augmented by 'all terminals'. The old lady kept the tile.

To Nodoka's dismay, she failed to draw her winning tile yet again. She didn't allow this to faze her for it was normal for people not to draw their winning tile after a couple of draws or even not to draw them at all. Little did she know that her wait ended there for the girl that came after her was about to release some fireworks.

"Kan!" Shouted Saki who drew again yet another four of circles that completed her set.

"_A promoted kan?_" Nodoka have seen Saki do this before but it was still a rare occurrence. Saki would usually just burst with normal Kans and win the hand.

Time slowed down as Saki reached out for the dead wall and even slower as she drew, raised and pulled it closer to her. Then as if somebody just pressed the fast forward button, Saki slammed the eight of circles that completed her pair and manifested her hand.

"Tsumo, Tanyao, Chiinitsu, Toitoi, San Ankou and Rinshan Kaihou."

Saki said this with sparks almost visible in her eye. Winning with a draw, no terminal tile, one suit for all, no sequences, three hidden triplets and a win by drawing from the dead wall; these are the yakus that Saki just created in her hand. The above are worth the following, 1 fan, 1 fan, 5 fans, 2 fans, 2 fans and another fan for winning after declaring a quad. If you total these, they are worth a total of 12 fans, just a fan away from a Yakuman. She's also currently the dealer so she will receive more points from her opponents.

"That will be 24000 please." Said Saki with an almost innocent smile on her face.

"A Sanbaiman?!" Kyoutarou Suga who seemed to lose his grip every time Saki would pull off a win with Rinshan Kaihou.

"Oi-oi, I know our little girl here has improved since but this is just ridiculous."

Mako adjusted her glasses again with a slight twitch on her lips.

"To push back a pro, Nodoka and Toyone like this it should be beyond her." Mako remembered the time when Saki and Nodoka were utterly crushed by Fujita. She almost cannot recognize the same frail girl that trembled in front of the katsudon loving pro.

"No… I saw it after she destroyed her opponents in the individuals. This is the sword that she so properly polished to face her sister."

Hisa smiled before turning to Mako.

"With this, I think I'll be able to leave the club happily knowing that we will retain the trophy next year." She grinned at the glasses girl.

"Oi, don't go saying such sad things." Mako frowned and chastised her president.

Back in the game, a girl is beginning to unfurl her wings. Saki smiled as she saw Nodoka's face turn red because of her feverish way of concentrating too much in a game. Saki could see Nodoka's angel wings spread as they begin to flap. Everyone virtually felt the strong wind that raced across the table.

"_So intense._" Saki commented on how Nodoka's mahjong battle aura was affecting everyone. The pink haired girl's movements started to flow faster as she barely even looks at her own tile when she keeps or discard them.

"_Amazing so this is Haramura-san._" It was Toyone's first time to experience playing with Nodoka. She marveled at Nodoka's digital style play and her ultrafast decision making. It was completely different from Saki's flow control.

"_She's completely dictating the pace of the game now._"

The old lady noticed how everyone was carried with Nodoka's

"_I can't let these youngsters have their way now can I?_" Said the old lady as she drew the four of dots that placed her on tempai. She had to decide now whether she will call riichi or hide her tempai. To scare off Nodoka she decided to take a ten thousand point riichi stick and throw it on the table as she stated her riichi.

"Tsumo! San shoku dou jun and one dora. That will be 2900 please." Saki confidently revealed her hand as she once again broke everyone's flow including Nodoka's.

"_A closed Haneman…_" Said Nodoka as she gathered herself taking into account the possibilities in the next hand.

The next hand everybody found themselves waiting as they watched Saki throw a riichi stick on the board. The very presence of that stick caused ripples among the players as her hand's value will increase if she manages to win this round, and she certainly have showed them that she's very capable of doing just that.

"_Miyanaga-san is beginning to run away with everything again I won't lose easily this time!_" Toyone began to fire up with her hands tight fisted. Her hand right now is only a red dragon away from achieving a non-dealer mangan. What she had were three nine of dots, two one of bamboos, two five of bamboos, two six of bamboos, two seven of bamboos and two red dragons. One dragon more and she completes her hand.

"Tsumo!"

Saki said this aloud as her turn came. She revealed her hand as she slammed the three of characters to drop. What she had were the three of characters, two four of characters, four fives of characters, two sixes of characters, two seven of characters, two eight of characters and the other three of characters that she just drew from the wall.

"Riichi, Tsumo, Pinfu, Chin itsu and Ryan pei kou. That will be twenty-four thousand please." Just like that Saki's lead continued to sky rocket as everyone was forced to pay eight thousand each.

"_This girl…" _

The old lady removed her monocle to see Saki with her bare eyes. To her surprise, behind Saki, she could see the slight silhouette of a girl who was only known by the name Teru merge together with the current champion.

"I see, so you're truly her sister after all." Toshi-sensei said this very silently but not silent enough to be ignored by some people in the game.

"Eh?" Saki asked in wonder after she heard the old woman's whisper. She was sure she muttered something about her but she didn't exactly hear the details.

"Nothing, it's just that you remind me so much of someone else."

Said the old lady with a smile while having the picture of the previous champion flash in her mind.

"_Miyanaga Teru, you can deny it all you want. But from where I sit, I can see you in this girl. No, maybe only a part of you. It's almost as if it was a prototype that dominated the team competition two years ago and the finished product is now in front of me in the form of this girl._" The old lady thought to herself as she imagined Teru to be a celestial being slowly being encroached and eclipsed by this younger celestial being.

It wasn't long and a few hands later everybody including the professional player were bankrupt and found themselves below the threshold, zero. One player reaching negative meant the end of the game but in this case, three players reaching the negative meant total domination.

"This is unbelievable." Yuki Kataoka who was usually giddy was trembling after watching Saki dominate three strong players without using her trademark move to its fullest.

The three players that witnessed their limits just now are now staring at the ceiling narrow-eyed. Even Nodoka who was always sure of herself even in defeat is now in shambles as it was her first time to be completely decimated outside of team competition, to hell with that this is also her first time to be completely destroyed in a match.

Toshi Kumakura easily saw the limits of her abilities. In Saki she saw that this generation has finally caught up to her and the others that call themselves 'professional mahjong players'. How long has it been since she lost? How long has it been since she was utterly defeated? After years, she felt again like an amateur struggling to reach the top.

Toyone was paralyzed not with fear or despair but with awe. Even against Kumakura who she looked up to she was never so brutally defeated. The calmness she saw in Saki as she went through their strategies was something so overwhelmingly beautiful that she could not help but picture her as a goddess in mortal flesh. Unlike Komaki Jindai, Miyanaga was conscious and sincere when she faced them which counted for more than just a vessel of god spirits.

"I guess that's all I can do for today." Toshi Kumakura sighed as she stood up but not before flashing everyone a kind and gentle elderly smile.

"T-thank you for the game." Saki who was always shy when it came to her superiors stood up and bowed before the professional mahjong player.

"No. Thank you. Because of you I've learned more. You showed this old lady something that she hasn't seen for decades." The old lady bowed too, though not as deep as Saki did.

"Thank you for the game too." Nodoka who just managed to recover from that stood up as well and bowed before the elderly.

"I- I enjoyed the game today with Miyanaga-san!" Toyone nervously went beside her mentor and bowed even deeper than Saki did.

"I really enjoyed the game too." Saki replied humbly.

"I-If it's okay maybe M-Miyanaga-san and I can be friends?" It took Toyone all her confidence to ask this to her new found idol.

"Nng!?"

Saki was rather surprised and taken aback on how Toyone approached her. It was only for a second though until she replied to Toyone with a smile and nodded.

"I'll be happy to be good friends with Anetai-san." Saki said this while extending her hand to Toyone who accepted it ever so gratefully.

Toyone's face exploded into a big smile after hearing this. Then to everyone's surprise she suddenly burst into tears just as she did the first time she was accepted into Iwate's mahjong club.

"Uwahhh!" the tall girl cried.

"A-Anetai-san!" Saki gasped to see the girl who was just smiling so wide a second ago cry.

"I- I'm sorry it's just that I'm so happy right now!" Anetai wiped the tears off her eyes before replacing them with a smile.

"Then we'll be seeing you in the club tomorrow then?" Hisa felt the need to ask the newcomer.

"Yes!"

Toyone nodded before putting her hat back on.

"I'll be in your care starting tomorrow. Please take care of me!" She said this happily before bowing one last time to her new club-mates.

"Then we'll be going now." The old woman bowed as well as she took Toyone with her outside the door.

"A-Actually I have to go as well. Me and my dad are planning something today." Saki checked the clock on the wall before taking her bag.

"Okay. See you tomorrow!" Yuki was the first to wave Saki goodbye as she disappeared along with the other two outside the room.

* * *

4:00pm, in the West Tokyo prefecture, another Mahjong Club of beautiful girls are having their daily exercise routines and practices. Unlike Kiyosumi, this club had more than fifty members, and had more than hundreds of faithful admirers. Each girl inside aspires to be equal if not greater than their seniors that have already achieved the zenith of high school mahjong. They work tirelessly to grow better each day while studying the styles of every player they have come across. Today is nothing short of similar as those days.

Sumire Hirose, the girl who served as their team's sergeant in this previous competition is in charge of feeding todays attendees training and information.

"Okay, we're going to start today by analyzing our opponents' games. Let's see who we have for today's agenda."

Sumire flipped the pages from her binder which had details of every enemy they faced in the nationals. She matched the dates written on the lower left corner of the pages which signified the specified date they agreed to study on the corresponding individual.

"Here we are! Oh this is…" Sumire paused after seeing the face of the person they were to study on for today. That person had short brown hair and had a naïve look on her face. She resembled someone they knew very well.

"This is the current Champion Miyanaga Saki right?" One of the first year students asked her seat mate who did nothing but nodded in reply

"She kind of looks like our president don't you think?" Another member asked but was immediately silenced by another girl who was her senior.

"Shh…" Said the older girl. The first year immediately closed her mouth shut with her hands knowing that she just stepped on a sensitive topic.

Sumire having overheard that little conversation looked over to Teru who was sitting on her table since the start of the club session. To her surprise she saw the former champion looking away, as if trying to avoid the gaze of everyone in the room.

"Everyone! We'll pause our studies for awhile please play your own games for now. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Sumire took with her the file and walked to Teru who did not even notice her sergeant near her.

"You've been quieter than ever since the competition. I'm not sure if you're depressed about losing or because of something else." Sumire said this rather coldly before tossing the file in front of Teru on the desk.

Teru turned to look at the file then looked at Sumire. She had this cold yet emotionless look on her face. She picked up the file and stared at the picture smiling at her for a few seconds.

"What are you…?" Teru was about to ask Sumire about her intentions but her sergeant just slammed the file on the table before she could finish her question.

"This is about your sister isn't it?" Sumire asked while giving Teru a sharp stare.

"I thought I told you before that I had no-…!"

"Bullshit!" To Teru's surprise, Sumire cut her off again with an angry face and tone. She sounded impatient yet people could see the concern in her eyes for their ace and captain.

Miyanaga who knew she could not say what she used to say any longer closed her eyes before letting out a deep sigh. She stayed silent for awhile before she took the file and looked at the face on it. Her eyes seemed to narrow on that cute face.

"What exactly happened between the two of you?" Sumire asked. She had a determined look as she interrogated her captain.

"This is neither the time nor the place Sumire." For the first time in a long time, there were emotions in the captain's voice. It was filled with sorrow and Sumire was sure that she felt the faint but distinct feel of longing in it. At this point Teru already had her bag and started heading for the door. As a third year, after the competition finished, nothing really binds her anymore from attending the club as she's prohibited from joining the same competition for next year.

"She's still your sister no matter what happened!" Sumire chased after Teru who was close to leaving the place.

"… Please Sumire… Don't get the order reversed. She… abandoned me first." There were tears in Teru's eyes as she turned to her sergeant as she said this. She quickly wiped it with a finger and hurried out.

"Te-…!"

Sumire tried to chase after her captain but stopped halfway. She knew that anything she does now would be unhealthy. It was then that she decided that if she would help mend their relationship she'd need to ask the other end instead.

"Takami…"

She approached another regular who played as their lieutenant.

"Please check our schedules. Make sure to make room for this weekend for we'll be having a joint training camp with Kiyosumi." Ordered Sumire.

"Eh? But that's-…"

Takami was puzzled with what Sumire just asked of her just now but just a glance at Sumire's face she understood the importance of that decision.

"Okay, but will Kiyosumi agree?" Takami asked. After all, to have two schools train together, the consent from both schools must be there.

"I will talk to their president. I have a friend who seems to know how to get in contact with that girl." Sumire replied with an expression on her face that says 'leave it to me'.

Outside the school's premises. One of the girls who were in the center of the argument was aimlessly walking beside shops located everywhere in the West Tokyo Prefecture. It was almost like she was window shopping but it was quite noticeable that she wasn't interested in whatever she was coming across with. Instead she had a distant look on her face as she passed everyone who looked at her.

"Oh that's Miyanaga Teru!" One of the students in her school who was not in their club noticed the famous face cross their path.

"The famous monster of High School Mahjong?!" A female student who seemed to be a friend of the first student asked.

"Yes, she was the champion but recently they were dethroned by a no name school." The male student replied.

"I heard the over all MVP looks almost identical with Miyanaga Teru, the only difference was hair color and hair length." The female student said this as if she was trying to recall bits and pieces of information from the gossips she heard.

"Yeah… but if you ask me the new champion is lame. She just get weird draws out of quads. There's no skill in that. Just pure lu-…!"

The male student was stopped after seeing the scared look on his friend's face. The girl with him was looking behind him sweating and wide eyed.

"What? Is there something-…?!" He stepped back to see a pink haired senior standing there with a sharp stare.

"I'm sorry but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation."

Teru had a cold look on her face as she confronted the two. She had both of her hands in fists as if she was ready to punch them.

"Please don't spread such nonsense. That girl's skill is genuine. I will not have you people step on her accomplishments like that." Teru was prepared to continue on but that alone was enough to send the two students nodding in apology before frantically running the other direction.

On the wake of that moment, she felt the people around her stare at her. Each of them was keeping it to themselves but they were murmuring stuff about her, she can tell. To her teammates and other people, she always denied her relationship with Saki but in times like this she always feels the need to stand up for her sister. She did not understand it herself but a switch is always flipped every time she hears someone say something bad about Saki, the girl she disowned and denied. Her actions just then had immediate consequences as some who have heard the rumors of speculations about how they were related. Some bystanders have taken this as a confirmation of the rumors while some whisper that it's mutual respect between rivals.

The pink haired third year walked to a park near her school. Like her sister, she had a hobby of taking out then getting lost in it until the time to do something else arrives. The book she read was about a tale of two sisters separated by distance. The book started with the little sister acting clingy to her older sister while the older sister was being secretly dotting towards her younger sister. It didn't take long until Teru reached a point in the story where the big sister got unreasonably mad at her little sister for not showing up for an important promise. It was at this point that Teru threw the book which landed in a pond not too far from the bench.

"Ugh, what is wrong with me?" Teru sighed as she remembered how much that book cost. She placed her hand on her forehead as she leaned back on the bench with her head raised to the sky. After a long pause she took a wallet from inside her blouse and opened it. In one of the pockets were two hair-rubber bands. These bands were the very same bands someone wore when they were younger to hold their hair in twin tails. The third year gently cupped the bands in her hands before putting them close to her lips almost as if giving them a kiss.

"What are you doing?" A voice surprised Teru into almost dropping the bands. It was Sumire who decided on checking up on Teru after finishing the club.

"Nothing I was just-… just nothing!" Teru could not give her Sergeant an excuse for what she just showed. She almost failed giving a cool cold look that time as her face turned significantly red.

"I just need to tell you that we'll be having a three day training camp with Kiyosumi next two weeks." Sumire said this in a frank tone with a frank face.

"What? I didn't agree about this-...!" Teru was surprised to hear about that.

"Yeah well everyone decided on it." Sumire said while making sure to not give Teru any excuses to cancel the event.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Teru asked with her voice almost frantic.

"Well maybe if the president would stop walking out of sessions..." The sergeants crossed her arms and looked at Teru with criticizing eyes. Teru for the first time today showed her cute side as she puffed up her cheeks looking as if she was just bullied.

About thirty minutes ago in Kiyosumi High School, everybody except Saki who already went home was still in the clubroom.

"I couldn't win a single hand…" Haramura said this with her head down while hugging Etopen tightly.

"Cheer up Nodoka your boobs will get smaller if you squish them so much with Etopen like that." Yuki tried to tease Nodoka to cheer her up but to her surprise Nodoka barely showed a reaction.

"But man, Saki really improved miles. It's unbelievable that she was the girl who could do nothing but score zero before." Kyoutarou said this while eating a piece of chocolate pretzel.

"When you watch her play nowadays you don't even see the slightest bit of hesitation in her eyes. It doesn't matter what special ability her opponents had she immediately finds a way around them." Mako added to their conversation. She was smiling but her glasses hid her unsure eyes. In one side she was proud and happy that her team was sure to grab more championships in the near future. On the other side she felt inferior as an individual. After all not all competitions out there are team competitions.

"By the way the president is still on the phone?" Kyoutarou noticed that Hisa was not talking with them. About two minutes ago, the phone rang and the president answered it. To their surprise Hisa was still busy attending to whoever was on the other side.

"It must be a pretty important person." Mako adjusted her glasses. She too wondered who it was that was taking so much time of the president. It was not until a minute more that Hisa finally finished talking on the phone.

"This will be a long month for us."

Hisa said this as she approached her members.

"Be prepared because that was a member of Shiraitodai High School on the phone. We'll be having a training camp with them next two weeks." Hisa said this before slumping beside the table.

"W-What?! Shiraitodai?!" Kyoutarou and Yuki shouted in unison. It was easily understandable why they would be surprised. To have the school that most considered to be number one invite you into a training camp is a luxurious privilege.

"But we're also having a training camp with Achiga next week? Won't it be too hectic for our new member?" Mako remembered that they already had plans for the month. Adding more might surprise the new member Toyone too much.

"We'll have a meeting about this tomorrow. I'm confident though that Toyone is the kind of person that enjoys these kinds of events." Hisa replied almost lazily.

"But why would Shiraitodai suddenly ask us for a training camp?" Nodoka who just recovered from her despair of losing badly wondered and looked at her president curiously.

Hisa looked at a magazine resting on a wooden table not far from her. On that magazine was Teru's picture on the left holding her hand in a peace sign and a bigger picture of an embarrassed and blushing champion on the right side who looked as if she was forced and dragged into holding up a trophy to pose for the cameras.

"I think I know why. And if I'm correct, it's the most important training camp we'll have yet." Hisa grinned as she shared the excited feeling of waiting for that day to come.

* * *

AN: this might be a bit long of a chapter but since this happens in mostly a single time frame i can't really divide it without botching it up :


	2. Chapter 2

**Love in Bloom  
**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own saki or any of the characters that stars on Saki.  
**

**YuriFan: I'll be keeping the plot secret for now~**

nightsentinel09: Yep, This will be slightly AU-ish. And as for the mahjong battle, keep in mind that i started the story when saki is at her peak of power at the time of story.

**veamgee: Thankies~  
**

**anon: Will do!  
**

**alycat: Yep yep, i will  
**

**i need an angel: thanks for the praises, KEEP EM' COMING  
**

**AN : Having fun writing this story since Saki is my favorite~ 3**

* * *

Eight O'clock in the morning, Friday, there were no classes but there were eight people in school in which seven of them were students. They were wearing their school uniforms too despite the absence of classes. However, they were not inside the school campus, but rather in its parking lot as they carry their luggage.

"Hurry up we don't want to keep them waiting!" Hisa commanded cheerfully to her lovely girls as they boarded the Hummer.

Because of their success, the school has granted them the maximum possible funds they could offer. It's only fair since the advertisement they get just from Saki and Nodoka showing up for interviews and some photo-shoots already boosted the school's popularity and enrollment rate by a hundred fold. To make full use of these, Hisa rented a very luxurious Hummer that could fit all their equipment inside and still have enough room to play around in.

"We sure have gone far haven't we?" Ako was awed to see the vehicle that was rented out just for them. Not only that, but a driver too was rented who will stay with them to ensure their safety.

"T-This is the first time I'll be riding in such a vehicle." Toyone the newest member of the group was speechless as she boarded the vehicle. She excitedly sat behind the girl who she now admired the most despite their same age and year.

"Me too." Saki loosened her blouse as she examined every part of the Hummer with her eyes. She could not help but feel a little proud that she was a part of the reason why they're able to afford all these.

"I'm coming in!"

The giddy little girl who calls herself Yuki jumped inside the car in between Saki and Nodoka. She had a Taco in her hand which she was munching on like a capybara.

"Kyoutarou you really improved in making these Tacos!" Yuki praised the man who dedicated himself into making snacks for the little critter. In one way you can say that Suga is one of the main reasons for Kiyosumi's success. First is that he introduced Saki to the club and second is that he recharges Yuki's fuel with the Tacos that he make.

"I've been meeting with my mentor more recently." Suga replied with a man in tuxedo in his mind.

"Introduce me to your master sometime." Yuki wondered what kind of man could mentor Suga this extensively. Suga did show his ability to learn scat in his mahjong. Since he joined the club he only improved in his abilities very little.

"Sure." Suga replied as he helped Hisa carry the mahjong table inside the Hummer.

"With that we're ready!" Hisa wiped her sweaty forehead before going inside the Hummer. She sat beside the driver in the front seat.

"I can't wait to see my old friends." Nodoka said as she remembered the faces of her old friends in Nara.

"We fought them in the team competition. They were really good." Saki said with the intention of praising Nodoka's friends. Even if it's a lie.

Without taking away anything from Achiga, the final battle they had was epic in difficulty but in no way did Saki see Achiga as a big threat that day. Because of the match she had before that her abilities leaped exponentially, too much to the point that Shizuno who acted as Achiga's general was out of the picture.

"Her name is Shizuno Takakamo-san right?" Saki remembered the girl in jersey that she fought. She was very well easily remembered because she was the only one openly exposing her armpits in that tournament every time she would take off her jacket. That, and because she was the most spirited in her team.

"Yes that's the name of their general. She was my close friend back in Nara."

Nodoka's smile reached from ear to ear as she talked about her friend.

"She's not as restless as Yuki but she's really energetic." Haramura remembered the times when her friend would run around just because she was bored or too excited. Shizuno would always compete with everyone physically, in marathons, sprints and other stuff not mentioning mahjong.

"I remember that dragon-san." The image of a long brown-haired girl appeared in Yuki's mind. As always, Yuki dominated the east rounds in that fight but there were instances that the dragon loved girl would get the upper hand by scoring ridiculously big hands with the help of doras. At this point everyone was listening intently to Nodoka who's beginning to talk about her childhood friends.

"Ah, Kuro."

Saki immediately knew who it was that Yuki was talking about.

"She really changed in the tournament. Before she was always scared of throwing out doras because of ridiculous superstitions." Nodoka remembered how Kuro would always sacrifice the possibility of reaching tempai just because she wanted to preserve the doras in her hand.

"And then there's that girl." Ako interrupted their conversation. This time it was about a girl with a muffler over her face. She looked like she was battling the cold effects of winter even though it was incredibly hot that season.

"That one's new to me. I've never met her before. But I heard Kuro had an elder sister. Maybe that was her." Nodoka could not remember the girl Ako fought.

"And the girl that matched with me?" Their president, Hisa, was suddenly interested about the topic and decided to inquire about her past opponent as well.

"She's Ako Atarashi, we just call her Ako for short."

Nodoka replied. She wanted to describe Ako more but that girl didn't really have any outstanding qualities to her except that she's really fast when it comes to play style.

"The girl I fought as vice captain was unfamiliar to me too." Nodoka remembered a small silent girl wearing bowling gloves in her match.

"I'm envious. Saki-san was able to face such interesting opponents!" Toyone who felt a little out of place pouted. It didn't help that the girl that kicked her out of the team competition was there.

"Cheer up Anetai-san we'll face a lot of great opponents this year!" Saki, the person responsible for destroying Iwate's dreams with +-0 tried to cheer her up. Toyone who was very simple minded immediately brightened up and nodded.

"We'll be facing another professional player when we get there. I heard Harue Akado is still there. She'll probably be coaching them again next year after she plays in some professional team competitions." Hisa who researched well about Achiga knew of the pink haired coach that guided her team well to the nationals. Even though they lost, it's quite commendable that a no name team Achiga was able to reach that point thanks to her guidance.

"I'm quite surprised that Akado-san coached Achiga. I thought she started to focus on her professional career." Nodoka remembered the teacher that welcomed her to the club after her friends introduced her.

Two hours later they stopped in a nearby mart to resupply as some of their food has already disappeared in the unending gullet of a little capybara, a blonde boy and a glasses girl. They were in Mie Prefecture.

"Does anyone want something?" Hisa turned to her members to know if they wanted to buy something while they were there. She herself was looking forward to check for some souvenirs other than to resupply.

"I want to try the Tacos they have here djey!" Yuki cheered. Although she has already experienced eating countless of Tacos before, having them from a different prefecture or place is always a new experience for her. This is relatively true for anyone but it's still a wonder on how she can gobble so much Tacos without really putting much thought into it.

"How long more until we arrive there?" Saki yawned as she asked the driver some questions.

"If we're lucky we'll be there in an hour and a half." The driver replied. At this point only Saki, Nodoka and Toyone are in the van for the others have already jumped off to get what they wanted and needed.

"I guess I'm going to take a short nap until we arrive there." Saki continued to yawn as she failed to control her eyes which started to weakly blink.

A few sways and a few blinks later Saki found herself lying on someone's lap far off in a dream. It was as if someone sprayed chloroform on her or forced her to drink a dozen of sleeping pills.

"M-Miyanaga-san!" Toyone gasped. Her lap was the human pillow Saki's head landed on. She blushed bright red as she felt her idol's hair rub on her legs as she attempted to gently rub the captain's hair with her hand.

Nodoka just stared at the two with the side of her eyes. She felt irritated a bit because as Saki's closest friend she expected that her lap was to be the girl's pillow. Unfortunately because Yuki used to sit between them she was too far and it was only due to circumstance that Saki leaned closer to Toyone.

"Miyanaga-san looks really zonked doesn't she?" Toyone observed how Saki breathed as she slept on her lap. There were no eye-bugs present on her face but it was apparent that she was very exhausted.

"I heard that she was invited to twelve interviews just this past week. It must've been very tiring." Nodoka recalled the amount of news reporters offering Saki a private interview. Saki was paid over ten thousand yen for some interviews and one even paid her over a hundred thousand yen. Forty percent of whatever she earned she always donated to the school and to the club.

"She was also a part of three photo-shoots for some magazines. One of those magazines was a big one." Ako who just got back from shopping joined in the conversation. She had a bag of chips with her which she planned to share with everyone.

"Really? How does that make Miyanaga-san different from models?" Toyone remembered some girls she saw in magazines posing for the camera. Those girls were considered as 'models' who displayed their beauty to the camera for everyone's entertainment.

"Not really, they're mostly sports magazines and mahjong exclusive magazines." Nodoka replied.

"Haramura-san I heard you're also very popular, have you done similar works as Miyanaga-san before?" Toyone who heard from her previous teammates that Haramura was the Middle School Individual Champion wondered. She wanted to ask what exactly were asked during interviews and the things they made her do in photo-shoots.

"For interviews they mostly just asked me on what I think about the other competitors and how I view upcoming tournaments. I declined all photo-shoots." Nodoka replied while fanning her hand as she said 'photo-shoots'.

"You can decline? I wonder why Miyanaga-san didn't decline if she was so exhausted already. I don't see her as the type who enjoys this much attention." Toyone wondered. She saw Saki as a relatively shy person who would pass on the opportunity of the spotlight.

"You're not wrong there, but Saki's probably too shy to turn down any offer."

Hisa just came back and had a small ice-box filled with cold drinks she just bought offered her idea. She looked around to check if all her members were there and found that two of them were still missing.

"Yuki and Suga-kun haven't come back yet?" Hisa asked the people in the Hummer.

"Nope." Ako replied rather frankly. This was due to the fact that she knew the two would be together looking for Tacos.

"They haven't eloped have they?" It was surprising that Hisa was the first to say this considering that she's the president of the club.

Everybody except Nodoka laughed at that comment. Nodoka blushed and waved her head in disagreement with Hisa's statement. She could imagine Yuki in a white wedding dress being carried by a Suga in a tuxedo while the girl was eating Tacos.

"We're back!" The saying 'when you talk about the devil you summon him' is awkwardly true about this situation as Yuki and Suga shocked everyone by appearing behind Hisa who just finished loading the supply inside the vehicle.

"What's wrong why does everyone look surprised?" Yuki asked with an innocent and clueless face as did Suga.

Yuki had a bag of Tacos in her hands while Suga had a plastic bag filled with God knows what. However, analyzing the fact that Suga went with Yuki they're probably more Tacos or ingredients to make Yuki's favorite.

"Nothing, nothing we were just worried where you two went." Ako said this stuttering. They were worried that Yuki and Suga would be angry if they revealed what they were really talking about.

"Sorry the man in the stall took time baking these." Yuki showed the bag of Tacos in her hands. The others wondered what the difference was between the tacos Yuki bought and the tacos Yuki brought, but since they're made from different prefectures maybe there is a little difference.

"If everyone's here let's continue on our way!" Hisa jollily jogged to the front of the Hummer entered took her seat beside the driver.

"Let's go!" Yuki cheered but to her surprise two people stopped her.

"Shh…" Toyone had her finger on her lips in a 'be quiet gesture'.

"Let's let her rest some more." Nodoka supported Toyone and pointed at the sleeping general on Toyone's lap.

"I'm sorry."

Yuki had a smile on her face as she apologized. She leaned over Saki and placed a hand on the girl's forehead.

"Rest well Saki-chan." She said this softly as if talking to a baby. With that they continued on to their destination. They requested to the driver to drive as smoothly as possible to not wake Saki up.

Eleven o'clock am in Achiga High School. Another club is eagerly waiting for their visitors. The most excited of them all was the one who calls herself Shizuno Takakamo. Today she's wearing her blue sleeveless shirt and shorts while looking outside the window for any sign of the people they're waiting for.

"Excited to see Nodoka?" Ako, a girl with long orange hair wearing a pink blouse asked her friend with a teasing smile. She too was excited to see their old friend but didn't show it as much.

"That too but what I really want to do is a have a rematch against her!" Shizuno replied with a fist raised and closed.

"This isn't who I think? Is she?" Ako asked with the image of a shorthaired girl popping up in her mind. She cringed in her seat a little. When she saw that girl's matches in the individual tournament through the television she swore that the gap between them was as huge as the Pacific Ocean. Ako isn't someone who gives up easily but what she saw there was something different.

"Of course it's her! I won't lose easily this time!" Shizuno's background was virtually covered in smothering flames as she began to fire up. She was trembling not with fear but with excitement as she imagined sitting in front of the Rinshan User again.

"Sadly I can't help you against her."

A woman joined in their conversation. This woman is strikingly older than them by at ten years or less. It was no other than their coach Harue Akado.

"Unlike Miyanaga Teru or Sumire Hirose, Miyanaga Saki has no signs on when she's going to use her signature move." Harue sighed. Teru starts from a low scoring hand that escalates to humongous scoring hands while Sumire's bad habit of moving her fingers helped them score. However Saki doesn't have any of this. Her only bad habit which was scoring +-0 has been cured in the team competition.

"But still I want to fight her!" Shizuno replied. Even after everyone's discouragements she still desired to face that enemy once again.

"_Still, this girl's tenacity towards mahjong might be the only edge she needs to overcome that monster. However, there are things that cannot be reached by merely practicing for a month._" Harue frowned. She remembered the enemies that they had to fight until this point. True that Shizuno did face Saki before but unlike Saki, Shizuno didn't participate in the individuals. This means that since their meeting, Saki should've improved tons since the team competition.

"What about me coach? Do you think I have a chance against my opponent from before?" A small girl who was fond of the coach interrupted. This girl was wearing a necktie in contrast to the others' more casual wear.

"If you mean Nodoka then yes. Even after her fair performance in the individuals I still say that you're on par with each other."

Harue nodded. Despite how amazing Nodoka can be especially when her 'Seraphim' mode is activated her style matches the girl who calls herself Arata Sagimori perfectly.

"I say that your unpredictable yet logical play style is perfect against her digital style of playing." The coach had all smiles as she imagined Arata fairly dishing it out against Nodoka. There have been some people who have tried to analyze Arata's style in the past and they failed noticing any pattern. If there's one pattern it's that she's quite random.

"We should use this meeting to gather more information about them for next year not just Nodoka." Kuro who decided to enter the conversation looked determined. She fought Yuki Kataoka in the team competition and neither one of them shined since Teru was there. In that fight Yuki and Kuro along with Satoha Tsujigaito managed to pin her down for a short time until she revealed her trump card.

"I wish I can fight next year too." Yuu Matsumi the sister of Kuro Matsumi interrupted the conversation with a sad tone. She, as usual, was wearing a scarf around her neck despite the hot weather. She had a frown on her face for this was the last year can join the club in competitions.

"S-Sis…" Kuro approached her sister and held her hand. She felt rather sad hearing that from her sister and guilty that she didn't take her feelings into account. At this point all the other members gathered around her to hug the third year.

"Look alive guys. There are still competitions to be played this year."

Akado tried to cheer her team up. She simply could not allow them to look all sullen when Kiyosumi arrives.

"Let's make sure that Yuu's final year ends with a bang!" The coach said this in full spirit. The members wiped the tears from their eyes obediently before nodding.

"By the way coach, this is a training camp right? I didn't exactly hear but where are we staying with Kiyosumi?" Arata asked. She was curious about the whole event since a training camp actually meant sleeping out which explains why they too have their luggage out even though it's Kiyosumi that's coming to them.

"Because of our success in the competition, the school agreed to raised our funds exponentially. I managed to book us a resort for the two teams." Akado showed a pamphlet of a pool and onsen resort.

The pamphlet showed a heavenly place filled with big pools and steamy hot springs. The pools even had slides and almost everything someone would ask for in a pool. There were also three types of hot spring there: a girl's hot spring, a man's hot spring and of course the ever so popular mixed bath.

"Hwoah we're staying here?!" Shizuno was even more fired up now that she saw the place where they would sleep in with Kiyosumi.

"Yep, and the best part is that they have a mahjong café there too which I rented as well for our practice." Akado replied with a proud pose. She felt rather proud that she was able to set all these as a model coach to her members.

"How much did we spend for this?" Arata wondered and she was almost speechless.

"Like I said, you shouldn't worry about that. It's all funded by the school." Akado replied while whimsically waving her hand.

The club enjoyed an hour's worth of casual talk before the sound and the sight of a huge vehicle caught their attention outside the window. They were all anxious to see who it was and were delighted to see a short and free spirited girl jump out of the vehicle while waving her tacos.

"Ah it's the taco girl!" Kuro Matsumi said this aloud at the first sight of Yuki Kataoka.

"It's them let's-…!" Harue Akado was just about to tell her members to greet their visitors when the faint sound of a sonic boom interrupted her. A member of the club just preemptively cut her words and dashed outside to meet the guests.

Outside the building in the parking lot a group of friends are stretching just as they got out of the van. They were doing this to ease their bones and muscles from being in the Hummer for two hours long.

"This feels good after sitting that long." Toyone had a huge smile on her face as she stretched her back.

"T-Toyone-san I'm sorry you had to take care of me for two hours." Saki imagined how hard it was for Toyone to stay in one position to make sure that Saki didn't wake up. She felt sincerely embarrassed that she couldn't stop herself from dozing off and on a new member at that.

"It's alright Miyanaga-san; I enjoyed looking at your cute face." Toyone said this very frankly that it made Saki gasp and blush. Nodoka gave a soft 'eh' as a reaction as well but she kept it to herself to avoid any trouble.

"Yeah, Saki-chan sure looks cute when she's sleeping." Yuki added to Saki's embarrassment.

"Please don't tease me!" Saki looked almost feverish like how Nodoka usually looked on the mahjong table.

"Uwoohhh!" Somebody could be heard shouting this all the way from inside the building to the parking lot where the Kiyosumi mahjong club was. Everybody in the group went 'eh' as they look to the direction where the shout was coming from.

At first what they saw was a blur, someone disfigured by the dirt she displaces as she sprinted towards them. It only became clear who it was when that girl passed and cut through their group like knife through butter and stopped in front of the current champion.

"Miyanaga-san!" The girl who just appeared in front of Saki, who almost fell down in surprise, said this out loud.

"U-Uhn?" Saki wondered what it was that the sleeveless girl wanted to say. She was leaning back due to her surprise as she waited for whatever it was the girl was going to say.

"Please play with me again in a mahjong match!" Shizuno requested with much grit and eagerness on her face. Her smile was almost in zigzags as she stated her request.

Saki was taken aback with this request. Recently many people, except her friends, have been avoiding to do battle with her. It's certainly understandable if one watches her matches. Most of them were easily discouraged after seeing eight consecutive victorious hands while landing consecutive yakumans with the help of the game rules. For her it's certainly a rarity for someone to challenge her so openly, and be very eager at that.

"Um!" Saki nodded while softly smiling. She remembered her battle with the girl in front of her. This girl did not shine as much in their previous encounter but this is the time for her to truly experience fighting this sleeveless girl.

"Shizuno you haven't changed a bit." Their encounter was quickly interrupted by the voice of Nodoka from behind Shizuno.

"Nodoka you're here too!" Shizuno hugged Nodoka tightly as she finally recognized the presence of her old friend. Even though she looked sincerely happy to see Nodoka, the pink haired girl couldn't help but feel like she was set aside.

"What do you mean 'I'm here too'?" Nodoka asked while narrowing her vision on the girl all cuddly around her arms right now.

"You guys can play all you want later when we get to the Pool and Hot Springs Resort." The coach who followed Shizuno along with the other members appeared from the arch that leads to the school campus.

"You must be Akado-san!"

Toyone was the first to recognize the red headed coach that walked towards their club.

"Toshi-san has talked to us a lot about you before!" Toyone remembered her mentor speaking bout a talented mahjong player who was able to lead her team to a miraculous victory before. This was the very same woman in front of them now.

"You're acquainted with Toshi-sensei?" Harue Akado was surprised to have someone here who actually knew the old lady who coached her before.

"She's my mentor! She had nothing to say but great things about you Akado-san!" Toyone was excited as she relayed the praises she heard from Toshi about Harue Akado. Harue was blushing all throughout that moment but what was more awkward was the girl beside her named Arata was also blushing.

"_I knew Harue-san was really amazing._" Arata said this to herself. She felt great that someone else recognizes the abilities of the idol she looked up to since she was little. She touched the tie that was given to her with both hands as she imagined the matches of her idol that she managed to watch before.

"We're not having our training camp here?" Nodoka asked. She thought that they were going to use the Achiga school campus as the place for their camp.

"You don't seriously think that we're going to use a school for a training camp right?" Hisa replied for Haramura.

"Your club president and I decided to hold the camp in a more relaxing place. Let's all rest for awhile then head immediately there when everyone's ready." Harue suggested. She led everybody to Achiga's clubroom.

On the way to the clubroom Ako and Kuro were all over Nodoka who happily talked to her about old times and the tournament. Yuu approached Ako who she had the pleasure of fighting in the team competition while Shizuno was sheepishly lingering around Saki.

"Miyanaga-san how was it in the individuals?" Shizuno asked Saki curiously. Having decided to only join the team competition, she missed the chance to experience the prestigious individual tournaments.

"It was amazing. There were lots of competitors and each was very amazing." Saki remembered the faces of the enemies she fought. Each of them had different playing styles even though some had similar abilities each still played with different character.

"Jiiiii!"

Shizuno stubbornly gritted her teeth looking all annoyed. She had both of her hands in a fist as she trembled in anxiety.

"If I would've known that it was like that I would have also joined." Shizuno remembered how she and the other members of the Achiga club decided not to join the individuals to concentrate on the team competition. Thinking back now, this was probably be a wrong decision because if they did join the individuals, seeing how weak Nara was at that time, they would've been able to win a spot for the national individuals.

When they finally reached the club room, they were served tea and some cookies by Yuu and Kuro. The first to receive her share was Saki who seemed to receive the adoration by most of the people inside that room this day.

"_This is strange; this girl isn't emitting that horrendous aura today._" Akado remembered that day when she trembled in fear the mere moment she heard Saki's footsteps. That girl's very presence eclipsed the fear she harbored towards a certain girl who defeated her in the nationals before.

"Miyanaga-san. I- I wonder if you can sign this for me."

It was Kuro who approached Saki with a magazine in her hand. It was one of the mahjong magazines Saki posed for.

"One of my friends really looks up to you and she'd be really happy if you can sign this for her." Kuro continued while bowing down as a sign of respect.

"O-Okay," this was the first time Saki was ever going to sign something for a fan. Even in her school, people only looked at her with awe but they were too shy to ask for his signature or anything of the sort.

"I remember my high school days…"

Harue smiled as she remembered a little Arata glassy eyed in front of her waiting for her signature.

"It was Arata-…!" Harue was about to tell everyone of that time when she felt a tug on her pants stop her. It was Arata who was waving her head with an embarrassed face. It was clear then that the little girl didn't want that experience to be revealed to everyone.

"How about me? You're all free to get my autograph!"

Yuki proudly presented herself in front of everyone. This was followed by a huge silence and the awkward stares of the people in the room.

"Why… I did good too…" At this point Yuki was already drooping back on her seat while an aura of dreaded purple loomed over her.

"Sorry Yuki in the end it's the position of champion and over all MVP the only one that matters." Suga kept poking the side of Yuki's head until the girl gave out a high pitched squeal and punched the air out of him.

"Is everyone ready? I think I've rested enough. Shall we go?" It was Hisa who first stood up and suggested that they continue on. Everyone in the room from both teams nodded.

"The place isn't that far from here. It's empty at this time of the month so it's perfect." Akado replied as she invited everyone to go.

"Let's go!" Shizuno said this vigorously as she led the charge towards the parking lot where both vehicles were waiting.

* * *

One o'clock pm, in the school Shiraitodai another club was in the middle of a meeting too.

"We only have a week more before our training camp with Kiyosumi. We will use this opportunity not only to get better but also study our opponents."

Sumire led the talk and stood in front of everyone while the other regular members sat at the side while the non-regular members, those who were not part of the important competitions sat in front to listen. Teru was with the other regular members at the side while reading a book and drinking warm coffee.

"As you know, our time with Kiyosumi will be in the long weekend next week. I have talked with their president and we decided that each of the regular members of our team share a room with one regular member of their team." Sumire explained this with a calm face.

"Pfft-…!"

Miyanaga Teru almost spilled coffee on the book she was reading as she spat some of it in the form of a fine brown mist due to shock and surprise.

"What?!" This was the first time the club has heard Teru shout almost nervously.

"For the non-regular members you're free to sleep with anyone, as long as it's not someone of the opposite gender. That would be all. Please resume practice." Sumire continued to explain as if she did not hear Teru's protest before heading out of the room.

Miyanaga casually stood up and walked out as if to chase Sumire. To her surprise, she did not need to look for or chase for her sergeant for that girl was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed on her chest as if she was waiting for Teru just outside the door.

"Sumire what is the meaning of this?" Teru asked. The tone of her voice was back to her usual cool tone.

"What? Is there something wrong with that idea? This will increase our chances of winning this coming individual picks for the international team tournament." What Sumire was talking about was a tournament that will be held after the third years' exams. This was a tournament where the four people who will top the competition will have the honor of fighting along with the Individual Champion to represent their country for the International Team Tournament. This was a tournament that decides a player's 'World Ranking' as some pros already have.

"This-…!" Teru tried to counter-rationalize Sumire's argument but was immediately cut off again.

"We've also taken the liberty of picking the perfect pairings for the occasion. Here!" Sumire showed Teru a folded paper which Teru hesitantly opened.

Here was what was written in the small piece of paper:

Sumire Hirose was to be paired with Ako Someya, Takami Shibuya was to share rooms with Nodoka Haramura, Seiko Matano is with Yuki Kataoka, Awai Oohoshi with Toyone Anetai and Teru Miyanaga with… Takei Hisa.

Teru sighed after reading the small paper. She had a small frown on her face that she couldn't hide even if she wanted.

"What's wrong? Sad that it wasn't as you expected?" Sumire had a slight smirk on her face.

"No… I just really think that this is a waste of time." Teru lied. Despite her protests she really wanted to see someone's name there. She gave back the paper to Sumire as she turned away.

"Saki Miyanaga is already seeded in that competition unless she decides to give that position up there's no need to gather info about her right now is there?" Sumire explained.

"That's a good call." Teru said this with a fake nod and a smile before going back inside the room. Immediately after Teru disappeared through the door, Sumire took out her mobile phone and dialed a number.

"Hello." The person from the other end of the line answered her phone.

"The fake pairing list has been accepted. Our plan is on its way. Our training camp will push through next week." Sumire said this with a grin on her face. She felt a mischievous feeling of joy of tricking her captain like this.

"Oh it's you; sorry I'm on the way to another training camp right now. Really? Then operation Sisterly Bonds is officially on?" A red headed girl replied. She had a similar grin on her face as Sumire had.

"See you next week then, I will email you the details of the place and time." This was the last thing Sumire said before she ended the call.

"Who was that president?" Saki asked her president who just finished a call from her mobile phone.

"Nothing. Just a friend." Hisa lied to the other main character for whom they devised the plot.

* * *

Two O'clock in the afternoon the teams of Kiyosumi and Achiga finally arrived in the place where they were to hold their training camp. Yuki and Shizuno were the very first people to jump out of their respective vehicles and happily scouted the place like kids in a toy store.

"It's so big!"

Yuki said this as she saw the breath taking silhouette outside the resort's premises.

"I think it's bigger than Ryuumonbochi's!" Yuki remembered the resort owned by their prefectural rival. With that, they also remembered the smug look on someone's face as she introduced herself to be the owner of that resort.

"This is so cool! I've never trained in a resort before!" Shizuno said as she joined Yuki in rough housing outside the premises. She stayed in an onsen for a training camp before but this is different in so many scales.

"Suga-kun I'll leave the luggage with you and the mister is that fine?" Hisa turned to Kyoutarou who was usually in charge with the hard labor. This was because he was the only male in the group and debilitating anyone of the gifted female mahjong players would be… well… debilitating.

"You can count on me!" Despite the hard work, Suga was always proud to be counted on by the team. Especially since they accepted him even after he soiled the good name of Kiyosumi by losing all his points in the very first match in the prefectural individuals. This time however he had the Hummer's driver to accompany him in carrying everything.

"You brought a lot." Harue Akado noticed the amount of luggage being unloaded from Kiyosumi's hummer.

"They're all mahjong supplies. I'm surprised you didn't bring some." Hisa replied while taking a quick glance at the almost empty van of Achiga.

"I also rented the mahjong center of this resort. We will have all the supplies we need. Sorry to say but I think it's best if you leave them back in your Hummer." Harue replied proudly.

"Really? I'll still have them brought just in case." Hisa replied. She planned on setting them up in their own room for some extra practice.

"I wish I knew that it would be a resort. I didn't bring any bathing suit." Saki sighed. Because of her busy activities during the week she forgot to notify with Hisa. This was true too for Nodoka who looked gloomy for not bringing any bathing suit as well.

"This resort provides that too. You don't have to worry about anything." Harue overheard Saki's worries and comforted her.

The resort looked amazing upfront but inside was more spectacular. The pools were very big which could probably fit over a hundred people. At the middle of the pool were some fountains that had a rather European look to them.

The pools themselves had different kinds of waves generated by a wave generator. Some parts of the pool had small waves while the deeper parts had waves designed for a surfer. There were also different kinds of slides placed in different angles and corners of the pools.

"Wow…"

Saki was astonished to see this kind of pool in front of her.

"Nodoka, did you bring Etopen the beach ball with you today?" Saki wondered. She remembered the fun they had with it the last time they went to a pool.

"I didn't know it was a resort so no." Nodoka replied sadly.

"This is my first time in a pool!" Toyone who stuck close with Saki was more amazed than anyone there. As someone coming from the mountains, this itself was a sight to behold for the tall girl.

"Excuse me, I'm Harue Akado and I have a reservation for five rooms here." The red headed coach approached the person who seemed to be in charge of welcoming the guests.

"Ah, oh yes, we've been waiting for you ma'am." The manager of the resort took a bell and let a ring sound. A bell boy immediately responded to aid the two groups.

"Please take them to their rooms in the deluxe suits." Ordered the manager. The bell boy offered to take their luggage as they made their way up a couple of flights of stairs until they reached their room. The rooms they rented were close together except for one which was on the opposite side of the resort; this was no other than the unlucky Kyoutarou Suga who was the only male in both groups and had to share a room with the driver.

Upon reaching their rooms the first thing they decided to was to pick rooms and beds to their liking. In each room there were three queen sized beds. The rooms were beautifully decorated European style with fancy linen in almost all corners.

"Okay now she's just showing off," Hisa smiled as she imagined Harue's confident smirk proudly presenting itself.

"So shall we pick room partners then?" Ako didn't give a thought about Harue, she's just grateful to be in a good room.

"Saki let's be-…!" Nodoka was about to invite Saki but.

"Nodoka come share the room with us!" Two girls who go by the name Kuro and Ako grabbed the pink haired girl by her arms.

"Eh? Kuro, Ako, but-…." Nodoka was in trouble. Right now she really wanted to share a room with Saki but it was really hard to turndown friends you haven't bonded with for a long time. She looked at Hisa for some help.

"Don't worry Nodoka, I understand that you want to have some time with your old friends. I'm fine with it if it's fine for Harue Akado-san." Takei misunderstood Nodoka's look. Nodoka was actually trying to go to Hisa for a reason not to allow her to share with Kuro and Ako.

"Of course, Nodoka was under my care before too you know." Akado replied with a nod.

"Let's go check the mahjong area out!" Surprisingly even with all the pools and the hot-springs this was the first thing on Shizuno's mind.

"That girl is really so enthusiastic when it comes to playing mahjong. I guess we can play around the pool and the hot-springs later on." Harue sighed.

"Let's meet there after we get in our Kimonos then. Girls I've already asked someone to fix us some bathing suits or bikinis if you like. Wear them under your Kimonos." Hisa replied and suggested. The members nodded cheerfully to that idea which Achiga seemed to adapt as well.

After receiving their luggage from Suga, all of them changed and headed to the mahjong area. The Kimono they wore had intricate designs of their choosing. Everyone looked so slim and slender in them with the exception of Nodoka whose breasts lumped out of her bathing suit and Kimono. As expected there were no other people around and because of that it was the perfect training place. The mahjong tables were already set up to be used and there were even refreshments prepared at a bar which was managed by an employee.

"I will have a taco please!" The employee was surprised to have such a giddy customer.

"I guess they've already decided for themselves on who will fight." Takei Hisa said this as she saw a table already filled with players.

On the east was Toyone Anetai. The person next to play after her is Miyanaga Saki seating at the South. The third person and sitting as west is Kuro Matsumi also known as Dragon-chan by some. Lastly in front of Saki was Shizuno Takakamo who was the most excited to play the girl in front of her. After the dice were rolled and the mountains were made and cut it was finally time to start the game.

"_I heard from Haramura-san that the girl in front of me has the ability to hog all the doras. I wonder if it's true._" Toyone thought to herself as she discarded the four of circles. She couldn't imagine how it would feel like not to get any dora in a game. After all, those tiles raise ones points exponentially when collected in mass.

Miyanaga Saki looked around her for a moment before making a decision. She tossed another four of circles seemingly to slow play the game.

In Kuro's turn, the dragon girl managed to get a three of characters which was a dora in that hand. To those new to the game, doras are assigned tiles by dora indicators or uradora indicators that increase the points of a player. It was as everybody who knew her expected. Even with Saki in the match who was known to be a demon of luck the doras still fly towards the famous Dragon lord. She tossed a nine of circles which was not taken by anyone.

"Kan!"

Said the sleeveless girl out loud as she revealed a set of the two of circles. She drew the three of circles from the dead wall which printed a smile on her face.

"Kan!"

Shouted the girl again. Now she has two sets on the table and she can still draw one more tile from the dead wall. What she had right now was two one of circles, the two sets on the table, two south wind tiles and a four of circles. If she draws another four of circles, then she would win the hand and by rinshan kaihou.

To her disappointment, the signature move of the girl in front of her did not betray its master as Shizuno failed to draw her winning tile. Instead she tossed a nine of circles into the discard pile while reaching out for a stick to declare riichi.

"Riichi!" She said. It would have been easier to change waits since the two four of circles were already on the table. However, like in the team competition, there are hands where she felt that going with a worse wait than some other possible waits can be more successful because your opponents will never expect it.

"_This girl has no special abilities but she has indomitable spirit._"

Toyone admired the tenacity of the girl beside her.

"_However I won't lag behind. _Riichi!" Toyone threw a riichi stick to pursue Shizuno's. Her hand was composed of a pair of one of bamboos, a straight from one to three of bamboos, two green dragons, three north of wind tiles and three nine of sticks. The tile she was waiting for was the remaining one of bamboos to complete here hand.

Finally it was the turn of the girl everyone had their eyes on. That girl did not disappoint her audience for in her turn the consecutive soft thud of the small tiles consecutively dropping were heard as she revealed her hand. Those who have begun to complete their hand could only stare helplessly as they saw their chance taken away from them.

"Tsumo. Chi toi tsu. That will be eight hundred once and four hundred twice please." Saki said this as she showed her hand.

It was a surprisingly low scoring hand consisting of seven pairs. Normally, players would combine this with other yakus such us Chiinitsu (same suit) or even with a Tanyao (no honors or terminals) to increase its value. Whatever the case, it was the correct decision to win the hand faster even with such a low valued hand because when Shizuno checked for the next hand she found out that would've gotten her baiman if Saki only waited for a better hand.

After three turns in the next hand, it was once again Saki who won the match. Since she was the dealer this time, everybody had to pay three thousand and nine hundred each for a sixty base points- two hand points hand. Still a relatively small hand as it's still not one of the 'limit hands' that takes chunks away from your points.

"_Is she doing something like Miyanaga-Teru's steadily increasing hand value ability?_" Kuro wondered. As someone who fought Teru first hand, she could find similarities with what Saki is doing now from what Teru did to her before.

"_Miyanaga-san is dealer again, this is bad for us._" Shizuno noticed how her points were being shaved off little by little. She watched the individual tournament the champion won and she noticed that after a few matches the next matches had something in common. Every match Saki fought after the other players had not managed to win a single hand. It was only in the championship where the clairvoyant of Senriyama was able to win a haneman for a round but it all went down hill from there.

"_Every time I play with Miyanaga-san I feel as if I'm revealing my entirety to her. My discards, my draws, all of my moves! It feels as if she knows them even before I decide them._" Toyone sounded as if she was in despair but she still had a confident look on her face.

"Ron! That will be one thousand and three hundred please." It was Kuro this time who paid tribute to the champion. Because she avoided throwing away a dragon she was easily caught by Saki who won off her by taking her eight of characters. It was a forty base point and one hand point hand.

A few hands later:

"_Eight hands already and still no one else have managed to win a hand from Miyanaga._" Akado was already biting her lips in both awe and frustration. Even while looking at the girl carefully with all her observation skills she could not see a weakness.

"If no one else wins a hand in the next, then it's game set." Hisa commented. She sounded a little disappointed while saying this. Every hand won after the eight consecutive win, according to the mahjong rules the tournament adopts, will be counted as a Yakuman.

Right now the second placer is nine-thousand and six hundred which Toyone Anetai is. Shizuno was not lagging too far behind from the tall girl was at eight-thousand and four hundred while the Dragon Lord who took the most direct hits is at four-thousand and two hundred. A Yakuman here, direct of indirect would end the game for sure.

"It's like the nationals all over again. I can't score a single hand." There were tears visible on Kuro's face who experienced the same despair whilst fighting against another Miyanaga before. Back then she had Senriyama's Toki who used her clairvoyance to help her to score a direct hit against Teru, but she didn't have that luxury right now.

"Damn it I won't give up!" Shizuno said this aloud surprising everyone. She had flames virtually scorching in her eyes as she pushed one more time for sweet victory.

"That's the spirit!"

As if being drawn by the fighting spirit of the girl beside her, Toyone felt her own spirits rise as she declared riichi after finally reaching tempai.

"Riichi!" She said aloud as she tossed a riichi stick. It was rare to see her declare the first riichi. Usually it was for pursuing someone else's riichi.

Then came the turn of the current dealer. Everyone was scared that she would end the game right there but to their surprise she merely tossed a tile after keeping a draw. Everybody paused after she did that as if time stopped.

"Uhm, I discarded." Saki said this to Kuro who was currently in South position.

"O-Oh sorry."

Kuro felt a little embarrassed that she was caught up in the situation that she forgot that it was her turn.

"_Everyone's so fired up. I can't let this game end without me doing anything!_"

At this point Kuro's powers have began to fully manifest. A dragon that looked like the dragons of those in Chinese Legends virtually appeared behind her. It bared its claws and fangs at everyone as it threatened to tear everyone into pieces.

"My hand's coming together now. Riichi!" She flashed a riichi stick as she drew in another dora which matched her hand.

"K-Kuro."

Shizuno was surprised to see the usually calm Kuro explode beside her. As she drew her tile a small smirk appeared on her face after feeling the tile's surface.

"If it's going to be that way then me too! Riichi!" The newest player to declare riichi has tossed her riichi stick into the fray.

Right now there are three riichi sticks on the table. This is in itself is already rare. Toyone in her turn failed to draw her winning tile which brought the spotlight onto Miyanaga Saki.

In the eyes of powerful players, this match is no longer a mahjong match. To Saki's eyes she can see the silhouettes of different beings at the back of each of her opponents. The most impressive of them was the girl who was riding a dragon rampaging towards her.

"_Amazing. Dragon-san's really amazing._"

Saki was captivated at the shimmering dragon in front of her. To her it was almost like seeing Nodoka Haramura unfurl her wings for the first time again.

"_Me too then. That flower blooming on top of the mountain. I am that flower!_" With these words the room they were in seemed to turn into a garden of flowers. This was to become the battlefield for Saki and everyone else in the game.

"S-So pretty…" Just as Saki can see the virtual dragon that Kuro emitted with her fighting spirit, Kuro too can now see the storm of flowers endlessly flying from the garden that suddenly appeared before her.

"Kan!" Shouted Saki.

"T-This-…!" Saki's battle aura has now expanded to the point that even those who were not playing could see the representation of her powers. Harue Akado could see the garden she did not see before.

In the middle of that garden was a hill with one flower blooming alone on top. It was Shizuno Takakamo who noticed the flower's elegance that radiated in the virtual garden. Its presence there even had the dragon lord's pet in trance.

"So this is…"

At that moment Shizuno knew that she finally got her wish. To fight Saki in her full glory. She imagined herself trying to reach out for that flower but just as her hand neared to flower's petals, another hand plucked the flower. Almost as fast as it appeared, the garden vanished as that flower seemingly transformed into a tile in the hands of its master.

"Rinshan Kaihou Tsumo. That will be Thirty-two Thousand please!" Said Saki as she slammed the tile of the west of winds on the table. She did not bother give them the breakdown of her hand since it was her ninth win. This meant whatever it was she got will be converted into a Yakuman anyway.

Shizuno dropped her head on the board almost lifeless to everyone's surprise. Saki yelped as she heard the thud sound in front of her. Miyanaga reached out to poke Shizuno's head but sleeveless girl erupted back up before her finger could reach the scalp.

"Miyanaga-san! You're amazing!"

Shizuno said this with full sincerity. Her hands were trembling with excitement as she praised the girl that destroyed them just now.

"I understand now why you're the champion! P-Please play with me again!" Shizuno requested as she always did every time a strong opponent would beat her down.

"I'll play too." Arata who noticed how serious her coach looked began to have interests in fighting with the overall MVP of the team competition. She replaced Kuro who was still stiff from that last hand. She took her glove from inside her pocket and wore them as she prepared to battle with the people on the table.

Nobody else was replaced for the next match. The other members of both teams have decided to play their own matches. This game starts with Shizuno as dealer, followed by Toyone, then Arata and then Saki in the North position. This set of players played a few matches before one of them finally tired out, Toyone. Once again, no one else had managed to steal a win from Saki and once again Shizuno begged to play once more with Miyanaga who graciously accepted the challenge with a smile.

Other than Shizuno, and of course Saki, the other players swapped with each other like bullets in a revolver. They swapped between tables and only the bravest dared to sit in the same table as the champion. Yuu gave it a try, Nodoka gave it a try, and even Hisa the person everyone thought would be able to take on Saki did not get her bad waits in and fell against the princess of flowers. A few hours later and everyone was already tired except for you, you guessed it, Shizuno.

"Just one more please Miyanaga-san!" Shizuno begged.

"Hey it's unhealthy to keep on going." Akado admired her member's passion but she has been playing for more than four hours now non-stop. It's definitely not a good thing.

"But-…." Shizuno's mouth turned into a frown as everyone else including Akado left the mahjong area.

"I'm tired Miyanaga-san. I'll be going to bed first." Toyone who was one of the last players in that table rubbed her eyes as she bid Saki goodnight and walked on.

"Okay, I'll see you there." Saki waved back as Toyone disappeared from the mahjong area.

"Akado-san is right. Pushing yourself like that will only exhaust you."

It was Hisa's turn to yawn as she stood up.

"Here, both of you, have some banana and some milk." Hisa offered them both a tray of the said items. Shizuno wondered what she meant but Saki was used to it.

Shizuno Takakamo, although feeling weird about the banana, started peeling it then proceeded to slowly bite on the tip. She sat down back beside the table with Saki still there.

"What's wrong? Not eating yours?" Takakamo noticed how Saki hasn't touched either the banana or the milk yet. Personally she found the banana's taste to be quite sweet and delicious and wondered if it was imported or if the bananas from Nagano all tasted that well.

"I'm not hungry yet." Saki smiled as she wobbled to her feet. Just as she got up she fell off balance forward to Shizuno's surprise who ran forward to aid her.

"Miyanaga-san!"

Shizuno gasped as she caught the falling Saki in her hands.

"Y-you're hot."

Said Shizuno as she felt Saki in her hands. Just now it was easy to tell that Saki's running a fever. Her face was red and her breathing started to deepen as she leaned on Shizuno.

"I must call your-…!" Shizuno attempted to rest Saki and run outside to call for help but she was stopped by the very same person she was concerned with. Miyanaga tugged on the general of Achiga's Kimono.

"Please… I don't want to worry them I just need some rest." Saki requested. Shizuno understood what Saki wanted and helped her walk outside until they reached their room. Because Nodoka was sleeping with Ako and Kuro and Akado's room was also filled since Arata and Yuu were sleeping there, it was already heavily implied by her teammates that Shizuno was for now to sleep with Toyone and Saki in their room.

When they arrived in the room they found Toyone already sound asleep. It was surprising that the bed managed to take that girl's height perfectly. She was embracing her pillow rather tightly with a satisfied look on her face.

"Let's not wake her up."

Shizuno carefully laid Saki on the middle bed and sat beside her. She placed her hand on the champion's forehead to check for her temperature. She had a smile of relief to find that the girl's temperature is going down. But still she stayed by her side until she slept.

"Miyanaga-san… if you were sick why did you continue playing?" Shizuno wondered. For Saki to reach this state she must have been feeling sick already for at least the past two hours. She felt guilty that it was here urging that caused Saki to push herself too much.

"I couldn't help it sleeveless-san… your resilience, your spirit and your tenacity. I find it very refreshing and I guess I find it charming." Saki replied almost automatically. With the fever she could not think straight and just says the first thing that comes to her mind.

"E-Eh?" Shizuno blushed. No one ever has called her charming before. Right now it came from a girl barely asleep and burning with a fever but still it does count.

"It's the truth, sleeveless-san. You're really amazing." Saki added to her praises. She had a gentle smile on her face as she said this which just intensified her sincerity.

"It's Shizuno Takakamo. Please remember my name next time Miyanaga-san." Shizuno for some reason wanted Saki to remember her name.

"Yes of course Shi…zu…no…san…" Saki could barely finish these words before she finally gave up to her sleepiness.

Shizuno checked the girl's forehead one more time and found that the fever is going down drastically. She turned beside her and saw her bed there waiting for her to use but before she could go down she felt something stop her again. Saki's hands were firmly gripping the side of her Kimono. She could pry the girl's hands off but she was worried that she would wake the other group's captain up. She waited for Saki to release her grip and then that's when she will leave the bed, or at least that's what she planned.

* * *

The next day:

"Kyahh!" This was the high pitched squeal of Toyone who just woke up. Immediately the door swung open and every member of both clubs entered the room.

"What's wrong Toyone? We heard a… w-what the hell is going on here?!" Akado too almost screamed.

What was bothering everyone was because of what was on the middle bed. Two members of the two different clubs had their bodies intertwined and their Kimonos pulled off to the point that their tops barely had covering on them. What makes matters worse is that one of them was tightly tucked inside the embrace of the other.

"Nggh… Miyanaga-san…" Shizuno moaned in her sleep as she moved her hands away from Saki's head.

These two generals have been known to be extremely heavy sleepers. Saki was always the last person to get up every time they had training camps and Shizuno always have needed the help of her teammates to help her up. Foot steps that rivaled the volume of a sledge hammer

"Shi-zu-no!" Ako the most easily ticked in the group of Achiga stormed in the room and started to shake Shizuno's bare shoulders.

"Hmm? Give me a few more minutes mom."

Shizuno replied obliviously as she returned back to hugging Saki like a pillow.

"Oh, Miyanaga-san you're here t-… M-Miyanaga-san!" Shizuno who just realized the situation she was in jumped back and fell of the bed head first.

"Hmm… what's going on?" Saki finally woke up with drool still on the side of her face. Her Kimono was already sagging to the point that it was worthless to wear.

"What's going on? Is everyone-… ugh!" Kyoutarou who was worried about the commotion decided to check in but got shoved back boy Nodoka Haramura who was blushing up to her ears all throughout the ordeal.

"Don't look!" Shouted Haramura as Suga stumbled on the ground.

"It's not how it looks like!" Shizuno could decipher the scrutinizing looks on everyone's faces.

"No… no… it's my fault… I should have taught you how to set aside admiration from… from this." Harue Akado had her right hand over her forehead. She had the look of a disgraced father whose only offspring has flunked out of college while serving a ten year sentence in prison.

"What's everyone talking about?" Saki who did not understand the situation. She was used to lowering her Kimono in front of the electric fan to cool herself even in front of other girls.

"Saki! Be more modest cover yourself at once!" Nodoka chastised her friend immediately. As before, Saki nodded with a blush before complying with her friend's command.

"Shizuno-san, yesterday was really fun." Saki turned to Shizuno and said this with a happy smile.

"E-Eh?!" Everyone in the room shouted blushing.

"P-please don't say anything anymore Miyanaga-san!" The general of Achiga shouted this flustered. With that the second day of training camp started in the most awkward way possible.


	3. Chapter 3

**Love in Bloom  
**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own saki or any of the characters that stars on Saki.  
**

**EXpertUS: thank you~3, this story have a slight AU to adjust to the setting!  
**

**Alycat: another update from yours truly~  
**

**YuriFan: all in good time...all in good time  
**

**AN : can't believe i updated this fast o_0  
**

**AN^2: overhauled the chapter cause i don't like where this is going (the chapter was out for 10 mins so hopefully not much people readt it)  
**

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"It's good to be working with you Miyanaga Teru-san." A commercial producer said this gratefully while bowing to the previous champion in the world of mahjong.

It's Tuesday and Teru was invited as a costar in a one shot T.V. was on short notice but she was forced to take it because of the school's urging. Because of Kiyosumi's success lately, the presence of Shiraitodai in the media has been waning and the school wanted to do something about it. After hearing the offer, they immediately encouraged Teru to participate. Right now she was in a studio filled with busy crew who were determined to finish the short film.

"Not at all, it's my pleasure." Teru wore her fake smile the smile that she always wore every time she had to speak in front of the camera.

"It's an honor for us to have Teru-san to be a part of our T.V. drama. With Teru and our other star this will surely be a success! Oh in fact here she comes now." The director had a triumphant smile on his face as he waved to another girl who almost tripped while running.

"I- I'm sorry, I missed the train and had to wait for the next, am I late?" The girl apologized as she got on her feet. She looked really exhausted and the filming hasn't even started.

"Not at all Miyanaga Saki-san. You're just in time. Oh by the way meet your costar-…."

The director turned to introduce Teru. But all there was behind him was an empty space where cold air blew as if someone just dashed away. He looked at some of his crew who could've seen her but no one could give him answers.

"Eh? Where is she? She was just here… I guess she took off to get some refreshments." The director scratched his head in confusion.

"Huh?" Saki tilted her head with the same look of confusion on her face as the director had.

Meanwhile, in a dressing room.

"What the heck?! How come I wasn't informed about this?" Teru checked the letter that the school had given her to encourage her of joining this.

Right now Teru is sitting on a bed supplied in the dressing room rocking back and forth in a fetal position. The thought that she still had four days to ready herself for facing Saki was taken from her for apparently she only had four minutes to compose herself in front of the sister she denied.

"What am I going to do? Calm down Teru, you're not thinking straight. Calm down to think for a moment." She took a deep breath and sat still to consult her conscience.

In her imagination a small figure of her appeared on her left with both a tail and a pair of horns. It appears to be Teru's devil side of her conscience. It had a mischievous smile on its face as it approached Teru while cheerfully wagging its pointy tail.

"You idiot girl! It's simple. Just ignore her no matter what she does. Or push her away! It's easy!" Smirked the devil while brandishing a demonic trident. It trashed about with its arms as if to give emphasis on what it just said.

"That's a good idea but-…." Teru wanted to think about that idea but.

After that statement a small explosion of white smoke appeared on the opposite side of the little Teru devil. This time it's a figure of a small Teru with a halo and a pair of angel wings. It seems quite obvious that this is Teru's angelic conscience.

"That's wrong. You mustn't do that you will only be hurting yourself." Said the angel with its eyes closed as she attempted to have a conversation with Teru.

"You pussy! Just shun her away!" Retaliated the demon.

"Instead of fantasizing of her every night while holding those old hair-rubber-bands, here's what you should do. Use the film's script to get close, touch and grope your sister to your satisfaction." The angel said this with a calm and convincing face.

"W-what?! Wait that's going a bit too far! If you get caught you're going to ruin yourself and even probably go to jail!" The little Teru demon was shocked to hear this from the angel and immediately tried to convince Teru to do otherwise.

"Shh… this angel might have a point here." Teru shushed the devil side of her conscience and turned to the floating angel that's now sitting on her shoulder.

"I took a quick glance at the script awhile ago. It's a horror drama about two sisters fighting the evil spirit of a mahjong demon with their playing prowess. Imagine the numerous of opportunities that you could use to get close to her without anyone ever suspecting a thing." Said the angel alluringly.

"No this is wrong! Wrong I tell you!"

The demon started flailing around in a panic.

"Listen Teru if you really want to get closer to your sister just forgive her already! I don't want to go to jail with you!" Suggested the Teru devil.

At this point the angel took its halo and flung it at the devil like a razor sharp chakram disc. The devil disappeared to thin air as the halo passed her.

"Remember Teru. Heaven favors those who show their love openly. If you know what I mean…"

The angel gave out a gentle giggle.

"With this you don't have to soil your reputation by admitting to everyone that she's your sister and you care for her but still get to be close to her. Now go and make every moment count." Teased the angel again before catching the halo she just used to repel the devil. She disappeared after this advice.

"Alright!" Just like that Teru looked revitalized after consulting her conscience.

"Miyanaga Teru-san we're about to start is everything alright?" One of the crews knocked on the door to escort her to the scene.

"Yes! I'm ready." She opened the door with so much vigor that she looked almost like the Teru who won the championships for the first time back in her first year days.

"Well, she doesn't look nervous at all that's surprising." A girl hiding behind a bunch of boxes said this while holding a pair of binoculars aimed at Teru.

"Yes, I think my member will be more the problem here." Said another girl who also held a pair of binoculars aimed at the other costar, Saki.

"Thank you for coming, Kiyosumi Mahjong Club's president, Takei Hisa." The first girl took off her binoculars to thank her companion. She had a grateful smile on her face as she said this.

"Nah, I should thank you for devising this plan. Getting the two sisters together like this should help us solve the problem when we have the training camp on Friday. You're great Shiraitodai's sergeant, Sumire Hirose-san." Hisa returned her gratitude before resuming her observation of Saki who was nervously going through her script. They continued on discussing matters and small details while the people around them looked at them with scrutinizing eyes as they begin to stand out.

Meanwhile on the set the director has finally managed to get the two of his stars together. He was very cheerful as he asked the crew to come together.

"Of course we cannot start with the film without actually talking about it. Miyanaga Saki-san please say hello to your costar, Miyanaga Teru!" The director pointed in the direction of the pink haired third year walking forward towards the set. Teru had a cold look on her face as she walked in a steady pace towards the younger Miyanaga.

"_Here it is… she will say 'oneechan' I will say 'you must've mistaken me for someone else when she does. It has been a long time since I heard her call me, I don't want to admit it but I can't wait to-…!_" Teru almost smiled when she saw Saki's lips move. However, what came after next tore a hole in her heart.

"I-It's nice to finally meet you Miyanaga Teru-san." Saki said this very politely before bowing as if she did not know who it was in front of her.

"_W-what?! D-Don't tell me that. Please don't tell me that-…._" Physically outside she kept her cool smile as returned Saki's bow but inside she was already crawling in despair.

On the opposite side, this what was Saki was thinking.

"_If oneesan disowned me then she must not want me to speak to her as her sister in public. I'll just have to talk to her in private when I can._" Saki was very tempted to confront her sister and apologize then and there as it was her primary reason for returning to the world of mahjong before.

"The reason I chose you two for my stars is because you have the same surname. Since the theme of this horror film is sisterly love then your situation fits perfectly!"

The director said this happily which was almost eerie to both mahjong players.

"This film is all about the two girls being trapped in a world by a demon which challenges them into a series of mahjong games that they have to finish and win to escape that world." The director explained a few parts of the plot.

Meanwhile not too far from the set, two girls disguised as a part of the crew continued to observe the situation.

"Teru looks a bit… disappointed." Sumire said this as she pretended to mop the floor around the set outer edges of the set.

"What makes you say that?" Asked Hisa using a small speaker and transmitter attached to her shirt. She was on the opposite side of the set where Sumire was.

"I saw her eye twitch a bit not too long ago." Sumire repliedto the little microphone while recalling what occurred about twenty seconds ago.

"Ah, that was the part when Saki called her Teru right?" Hisa replied. The student congress president showed her distinctly high ability to see the smallest details in any situation.

"Yes, you don't let anything pass by you do you?"

Sumire was impressed with Hisa's keen observation.

"How about on your end? How's Saki?" Sumire asked this with a worried tone.

"Saki's being Saki. I can imagine that what her sister said before in an interview is getting to her. Right now she's probably too scared to treat her older sister as a younger sister should because she imagines that she'd embarrass Teru and that Teru would get mad."

Replied Hisa in a specifically detailed manner. Sumire was once again impressed about how much Hisa knew about her members.

"By the way Sumire did you call any other of your club members to come with us?" Hisa asked wondering.

"No, it's just the two of us. Why?" Sumire felt disturbed by Hisa's question.

"West of you just beside the make up artists there preparing their tools." Hisa instructed Sumire some directions.

Sumire looked at the direction Hisa pointed. There she saw two people wearing jackets and hoods while sneaking glances at the two mahjong stars. The crew did not notice these two people for they were busy finishing some details on the set.

"What makes you think that those two are Shiraitodai's?" Sumire wondered. Sure the two people were very suspicious but there should be no reason that they should be Shiraitodai students. She hoped for a good answer or she will consider it as an insult.

"I don't think you can see from there but from this angle I saw one of them reveal their blouse inside their jacket. It had that distinctive white cloth and blue stripes." Hisa replied. She tried to be as convincing as she can as she didn't want the rival sergeant to think badly of her.

"I did not ask anyone else but you to come with me today. However, the information that Teru was going to star in a show wasn't exclusively known to me only. Everybody in the club knows about it. If they're members of our club then you don't have to worry about anything. They're all extreme fans of Teru." Sumire was almost bragging. She herself had slight admiration for their captain and she wouldn't put it against anyone else if they would sneak in just to see their idol in a T. V. set.

"That's what I'm worried about…" Hisa sighed. Sumire wondered what her accomplice meant but she dared not ask for she feared Takei's answer.

Back in the set, Teru and Saki have just been given their scripts. The two book worms did not waste any time and checked their parts immediately. Apparently both of them did not find their roles very… appalling. Saki's character's name's pet-name was Naomi while Teru's character was named Seiko. Being bookworms they kind of had an idea what work their names were inspired from and the girl whose character was inspired from a character who dies in the first chapter of that work was especially unhappy.

"Okay for today we'll only be doing the opening scene. Think of this as the practice, or the appetizer so you can have a feel on what we will be doing for the next few weeks. By the way we have no filming during weekends we'll be doing these during the weekdays after class time except this Friday." Their director informed them of the usual schedule they will be following.

"Uhm!" Saki nodded while Teru kept staring at her script checking for some lines. One of the early lines caught her attention. It was a scene where Naomi, who will be played by Saki, is supposed to squeal in extreme terror and find comfort in the embrace of her older sister.

Teru tried to play that scenario over and over in her head. In that scene the camera will be dimmed to the point that they're almost completely shrouded. She imagined her little sister softly saying 'oneechan' while trembling in her arms. It has been a long time since she held her sister. The scent on the hair-rubber-bands in her wallet has grown stale and as much as she treasured them she would be very happy to refresh that scent by hugging the original.

"Teru-san are you okay?" The director noticed the girl space out while looking at her script.

"O-Oh sorry I was just practicing with image training."

Teru lied. She saw Saki look at her a bit and she responded by avoid thing gaze of her little sister.

"By the way sir may I know up to what part are we doing today?" Teru asked. She prayed that they reach the part that caught her attention today.

"Oh of course, we will do up to here."

The director pointed exactly a line past the scene Teru wished to act. The older Miyanaga hid her smile of triumph as she retrieved her script from the director.

"Let's start?"

He asked his two stars.

"Okay." The two Miyanagas replied in the same tone and with the same word. Everybody found this weird but everybody just kept their opinions to themselves.

Apparently the horror drama film they were making subscribed to the idea that using a part of the middle arc of the plot as the film's prologue. The scene right now takes place in an old house which was made inside the studio. The house was designed to look old, scary and downrightinhabitable.

The scene starts of with the two sisters holding each others hand while walking side by side. They stopped in front of the old abandoned mansion. Teru had a brave and determined look on her face as she stood in front of the house's dark and eerie arch entrance.

"O-Oneechan let's go back we shouldn't be here." Saki said her lines faithfully. She clung around Teru's right arm after saying this while shivering in fear.

"That's great Miyanaga Saki-san! You're showing your character's fearful emotions perfectly!" Cheered the director who loved Saki's performance.

Because of Saki's tenacity towards her character she did not notice that she was already rubbing her chest on Teru's right elbow. The older sister had a satisfied look on her semi-blushing face as she felt her own sister's chest rub against the surface of her skin.

"_They haven't grown much at all._"

She smiled.

"_Perfect!_" Teru's smile was beginning to widen when the director interrupted her fantasies.

"Teru-san it's now your turn to say your lines!" The director sounded apologetic. He thought that it was his interruption that caused Teru to pause like that.

"Naomi there's nothing to fear. When we get in we'll show those bastards in school that you're not scared of such superstition." Teru said her lines with full confidence. She rubbed the younger girl's hair as if to compliment the dialogue.

"Beautiful! You guys are doing this perfectly like you're really sisters! I knew we got the right people for the job!" The director cheered again.

Meanwhile, not too far from the scene were the two undercover students. They were both wearing their grins while holding up their binoculars at the set.

"If you ask me your captain is having fun." Hisa said this teasingly to Sumire Hirose.

"Yeah, but your club member looks satisfied too." Sumire retaliated by pointing at the gently smiling Saki who seemed to enjoy the stroke rubs her older sister was giving her.

"Sumire, those guys!" Hisa worriedly pointed at two figures climbing the stairs to the balcony above the set. One of them had a vase in her hand while clumsily making their way to the balcony.

"Are you sure we're going to do this?" The hooded person in a jacket holding the vase who is now directly on top of the set asked her companion.

"Didn't we already agree that we're going to pay that faker for taking Teru-sama's throne?" The other person replied.

"But what if-…." The vase holder stuttered. Her hands were shaking to the point that she might drop the vase without her intention.

"Relax, we're not gonna hurt her. Drop the vase just as she passes us. She will be surprised but she won't be hurt." The other person who was in charge as a lookout comforted her companion.

"And that will teach her from cheating Teru-sama right?" The vase holder asked.

"Well not exactly, I'm still not sure how she makes those kans every damn time but this will surely scare her." The other person replied. This made the vase holder question their true motive for doing this.

Back in the set, the scene has progressed to the part where Teru urges Saki to come inside the seemingly haunted mansion. Teru went in the house and turned to Saki with a grin on her face as she opened the door and take the first step inside.

"I told you it's going to be fine. It's just an old house." Teru followed the script. She reached out her hand supposedly to invite Saki inside.

"B-But oneechan." Saki reached out her hand to meet Teru's hand just as it was in the script. She had fearful and tearful eyes are her hands trembled towards her older sister's hand. Saki's natural ability to be shy and timid in everything she does for the first time fits the scared and helpless look the director was looking for.

"That's my star right there! You're a natural Miyanaga Saki-san." Cheered the director before clapping hard.

"Now come there's nothing to be scared about-…!" Teru stepped forward a bit and extended her hand further to invite her little sister to accept her invitation. She had that longing look on her face that made her definitely fit the character.

"O-Okay oneechan…" Saki obediently grabbed unto her sister's hand and allowed herself to be guided by Teru into entering the door.

However, the darkness of the set did not only show the horror the director wanted to portray for his film. Little did they know that it also concealed a hidden horror that was all too real for the actors on the stage. They only heard the soft whistle of an object freely falling in the shroud of darkness.

The high pitched squeal of a high school girl covered the shattering sound of a crashing vase. That vase indeed missed Saki by a few inches and caused her to leap in surprise. She landed in the strong arms of her sister who embraced her as if she was going with a part of the script.

"What?! What was that? Who's the idiot that placed this vase in such a dangerous place? It almost hit our star!" The director was furious. He demanded to know the person responsible for such a blunder. After all not only is killing your main star an unprofitable but it's also against the law.

"We checked the balcony sir, there's no one there." One of the crew members reported. He had a flashlight with him which he used to search for anything suspicious in the balcony.

Meanwhile hidden somewhere in the sides, away from the vision of the director, were the two culprits of the vase drop. They were panting heavily and they were breathless since they had to dash away to escape and it wasn't that easy escaping from such a high place.

"D-Did we do it?" The vase dropper asked her companion before taking a peek at the stage.

Back in the set Teru still had Saki in her arms. Her hands made their way around Saki's hips and sides like heat seeking missiles as they continue to move lower. The main objective was that spot beneath her pelvis in which it did not matter if it was the front or the back. Other than that, Teru found herself leaning over deeply with her chin almost resting on Saki's shoulders. Originally Saki would've just fell on Teru's chest but with precise movements Teru managed to maneuver her little sister so that the champion's arms are over and around her shoulders and look like the little girl is giving her a lover's embrace.

"Ah, I'm very sorry Miyanaga-san, we'll have the idiot who left that vase up there and make him pay dearly." The director apologized. He bowed a couple of times to show his sincerity and even forced some of his crew to do the same.

"P-Please don't worry accidents do happen." Saki said this while trying to retrieve her arms but Teru's head was in the way as if the older Miyanaga was purposely preventing her from ending the hug.

"Miyanaga Teru-san, t-that wasn't a part of the script you may stop acting that part now."

The director called to Teru. However at that time, Teru was busy savoring that precious moment that may never come again. A part of her plan was to take from Saki any souvenir she could find but the younger girl did not have anything else with her. The older of the siblings had to settle for a quick sniff before ending the embrace.

"Teru-san?" The director called again.

"I- I'm sorry the sound of that shattering vase is still rattling in my ears. I couldn't hear you." Teru replied with an excuse she just made there. What was impressive is that she was able to do this with a straight face and even purposely stuttered as she acted to clean her ears.

"Oh I'm, very sorry Teru-san that would be our fault. Really when we find that bastard we're going to force him to commit Seppuku" The director apologized while laughing again before asking everyone to recompose themselves and continue on with the scene.

"D-Damn that harpy!"

One of the culprits shouted in hiding. She had a very angry look on her face as she stomped her foot and flailed her hands.

"How dare her get all cuddly with Teru-sama! She totally used our plan to get all cute and get close to Teru-sama!" Shouted the girl in the jacket.

"I- I guess we'll just have to get her next time." Said the less aggressive of the two. Unlike her companion she looked like she was just dragged to participate in this so called mission.

Back in the set, the crew prepared for the next segment. This is the segment where Seiko and Naomi are supposed to discover the cursed mahjong and accidentally set free to the ancient demon trapped within. The segment starts with Saki closely clinging unto Teru as they slowly made their way to the room that contained the mahjong table. The scene was dimly lit for ambiance while they were filmed from multiple angles.

Meanwhile in the back of the set the two girls who set up the falling vase were plotting their next move. This time they had a bucket of cold water with them as they stalked behind the set.

"So let me get this straight. We simply splash that Saki with this cold water right?" The girl who was holding the bucket of water asked. Ironically even if she's the more unwilling of the two she was always the one who's forced to do the dirty work.

"Yes, then if we're lucky her clothes will turn transparent and embarrass her in front of the camera!" Replied the mastermind of the plot.

"Okay." The other girl hesitantly nodded.

"Just remember, wait until that Saki's alone okay?" The mastermind reminded her accomplice not to soak Teru too. That would be counter productive.

With the director's command the scene finally starts. Saki clung tight around Teru's right arm as they crept slowly while looking around to check for anything that's moving in the darkness.

"O-Oneechan I'm scared, I hear things moving all around us." Saki said these according to the script. She had the perfect tone of a bullied little elementary school girl.

"Naomi you're hearing things. We're near the appointed room. We just need to get the mahjong table from there as proof that we really went here." Teru replied. She was also very much into her character as she enjoyed secretly feeling up something that's brushing on her shoulder. From time to time she would purposely raise her elbow a bit to feel the undeveloped shape of those that currently gave her happiness.

"_Oh god, I don't think I can take more of this._" Teru thought to herself in utter bliss.

"O-Oneechan there's something in there I swear. I saw something go pass there." Saki pointed to a dark corner in the room.

"Geez, everything scares you. Wait here, I'll go check it out to prove to you that there's no such thing as ghosts." To Teru's protests, she had to let go of Saki for awhile and walk towards that place Saki pointed to.

"O-Oneechan don't go there don't leave me!" Saki begged and tried to reach for Teru but the older sister was already too far to reach without running up to catch up to her.

"_The way she calls me oneechan, even if it's just for the film. It's making me ecstatic._" Said Teru as her mind swayed back and forth from everything about Saki and doing her part in the film.

Just as Teru reached the place her script tells her to go another high pitched squeal interrupted the filming.

"W-What is it? What happened?" The director worriedly asked his crew to cut everything to check on his stars.

"D-Director-san, something just fell on me again and now I'm all wet." Saki replied as she showed her soaking uniform. Her white uniform began to turn transparent but before the spotlight could reach her and before the cameras could turn to her a gust of white wind went between the director and the actor. It was Teru stood in front of Saki to talk to the director.

"Director, I don't know what happened but I think both of us agree that we can't continue on with the film with Miyanaga Saki dripping wet like this." Teru said with a serious look on her face. She sounded as if she was convincing the director to stop filming for awhile.

"I guess you're right." The director sighed. He looked really disappointed because it was really going good. Saki and Teru were acting spot on with their characters and now it had to be stopped because of this incident.

"However, I have some spare clothes with me that might just fit my li- I mean Miyanaga-san perfectly. Then we can just film again from the start will that be acceptable?" Teru suggested with a convincing look on her face. She was so eloquent with this that anyone would think that she was a lawyer.

"I guess… I mean we're not too far from the start anyway. Restarting won't set us back too far." The director replied and gave his approval to hearing the director say yes. Saki found her hand trapped in the strong grip of her older sister who dashed with her to the dressing room.

"Here wear these." Teru threw at Saki a plastic filled with a set of Shiraitodai first year uniform as soon as they entered the dressing room.

"T-These are…" Saki felt awkward about wearing the Shiraitodai uniform. For one, Shiraitodai is their main rival in the mahjong tournament, and another is because that's her sister's school. She'd love trying them on but she'd be too embarrassed to wear them while she's still at odds with her sister. Oh if only she knew the truth.

"Hurry up the director is waiting." Miyanaga Teru said this still with a frank face. The reason is fake of course as she just really wanted to see her sister in her uniform. You see, one of the main reasons Teru chose Shiraitodai is not because of their mahjong program but because they had really cute uniforms. It was the image of Saki in that uniform that made her choose that school but since Saki didn't transfer with her she had to let go of that dream, until now.

"B-But Miyanaga-san." Saki tried to reason with her sister but there was no denying a Teru in heat.

"Do I have to make you wear them?" Teru asked this question with a grim tone. It was obvious that she's already insisting that Saki wears the uniform. It wasn't a matter of yes or no but yes and yes please help me.

"B-But I…"

Saki still didn't get the hint. This statement triggered something that skillfully undid all her buttons and made her blouse disappear in an instant. Saki found herself in her lingerie while facing what looked like a machine of destruction holding her uniform in one hand and the Shiraitodai Uniform in the other.

"O-Okay, I- I'll do it myself!" Is what Saki was about to say. Unfortunately, Teru already made the choice for her and forcefully placed Saki inside that uniform.

The uniform of Shiraitodai was dominated by the color white which symbolized purity. Truly it did fit Saki who was so pure that it's already considered naïve. In that outfit, she looked totally different. One can say that her resemblance with her older sister was intensified and the only thing you had to do now to completely link them was pain Saki's hair pink. Saki was almost in tears as she turned around to check how the uniform looked on her.

"What's the matter, don't like it?" Teru asked this question with a harsh tone.

"I-It's not that." Saki waved her head in a no gesture. Truth be told is that Saki loved the uniform. What causes her to shed tears was what she experienced before having them forced on her. She had different parts of her body rubbed in a way only lovers would do. Fortunately enough Saki was oblivious of these things but the experience was still intense enough to make her blush and tear.

After seeing her little sister turn, Miyanaga Teru proceeded to walk back to the set and her little sister automatically followed her. Saki received praises and compliments by many of the crew who found her new look refreshing and cute.

"Miyanaga Saki-san maybe you should transfer to Shiraitodai that uniform really brings out the beauty in you!" One of the crews suggested as a tease.

"I- I can't do that." Saki smiled back but began to sweat from all the praises and advices to go transfer.

"Hwoah, the uniform really fits her, Teru-san it's really fortunate that you had one with you. Come to think of it, why do you have one with you?" The director wondered. It's normal for people to bring spare uniforms or spare clothes, but to bring clothes that are too small for you or beyond your year level is something abnormal. It was as if Teru anticipated this would happen.

"It was for a club member. She returned it to me because apparently she already had bought a uniform and this was an extra."

Teru lied.

"_Truth I that I had it prepared for the incoming training camp. To see my little sister in this outfit is a dream come true. This is not a premade uniform and I had to specifically order the measurements. Every part was made to complement her cute body." _Teru thought to herself. Right now she was thanking whatever it was that dowsed Saki with water and allowed her to finally make her little sister put the uniform on.

"K- Kawaii!"The girl who splashed Saki with water squealed in admiration as she saw the champion in her new outfit.

"You idiot! Don't suddenly get attracted to the enemy!" The mastermind scolded her minion. She was more mad now than ever. She did not expect for their idol to actually help their enemy in that tight situation.

"I'm sorry but I don't agree with this anymore." Said the more timid girl. She had a frown on her face as she confronted her friend.

"What? Aren't we both members of the Teru-sama's Army Fan Club? Are you going to betray our cause?" The mastermind questioned her accomplice. She really wanted to push through with humiliating Saki. However, now that the person who actually does the dirty part of the plan is backing out the termination of the operation is already at hand.

"Haven't you heard about the rumor that Miyanaga Saki might be Teru-sama's little sister? If that's true won't we be only hurting Teru-sama if we hurt Saki?" The timid girl replied and asked.

"T-That's ridiculous! Teru-sama already said it herself that she has no sister! Are you calling her a liar?!" The mastermind stubbornly continued to urge her companion to continue with their plans.

"Think about it. Why would Teru-sama help Saki back there? Why did she have a first year's uniform in the first place? Lastly, why does she have that blissful look on her face every time they would touch?" Apparently this girl has been observing her idol quite well, more than the other one who calls herself as the ultimate Teru fan.

"What are you saying? That's madness!" The girl denied what her friend was saying.

"What she's saying is that you should stop this before we get pissed." A foreign voice interrupted their talk. They gasped in surprised before turning around to find two girls there waiting for them to finish their conversation.

"I'm honestly disappointed with you, going to such lengths in order to bring harm to our rivals like that." It was Sumire Hirose who was first to chastise her club members. She had an angry and annoyed look on her face. Even if the two failed to hurt Saki, the thought of them harming another person just for the sake of their false admiration was enough to bring Sumire to fumes.

"I hope you didn't expect to come out of here unscathed. Did you?" This time it was Hisa's turn to threaten the two. Both she and Sumire began to close in on the two girls who shivered in fear in a corner while they were overshadowed by the two angry third years. Their screams of pain and repentance echoed outside the studio but no one heard them.

It was five o'clock in the afternoon when director decided to end the filming for the day. They decided to continue everything tomorrow because of everything that has happened. Also, it was decided that Saki was to wear the Shiraitodai uniform in the filming to develop a more 'sisterly' ambience.

"B-But sir I don't have other sets of-…!" Saki was about to reason that she did not have any of those uniforms except for this borrowed one that she was currently wearing. However to her surprise her older sister tossed a huge plastic bag filled with them at her.

"That club member of yours surely bought many…" The director was beginning to feel weird as well about how Teru managed to acquire this much first year uniforms that matched Saki's measurements perfectly.

"T-Thank you…" Saki said this as she accepted the present of Shiraitodai first year uniforms from her sister.

"Saki!"

Just as their filming ended. A pink haired girl arrived in the studio to pick Saki up. It was an easily distinguishable girl for only she had that much volume in her racks for her age. It was Haramura Nodoka who met Saki outside the studio.

"I've come to pick you up."

Said Haramura Nodoka with a smile on her face.

"Why are you wearing a Shiraitodai uniform?" Nodoka asked after noticing the white and cute uniform Saki was wearing.

"I-It's a long story." Saki tried to avoid having to retell the embarrassing things that happened inside the studio.

Not too far away from them, Miyanaga Teru watched them with a look of disdain at the pink haired girl. She walked towards them and pulled Saki towards her forcefully before putting an arm over her shoulder. Saki blushed heavily as she felt her sister pull her towards her chest. Teru also made sure that she was leaning forward to talk directly to Saki's ear in a kissing distance.

"Make sure you don't come late tomorrow. I don't want to have to go on overtime just in case." Teru said this in a whisper and in a cold tone. She whispered so close to her ear that Saki could feel Teru's breath brush over her face.

"O-Okay Miyanaga-san." Saki nodded as her sister lets go of her.

Before leaving Teru exchanged glares with Nodoka and sparks ignited between them like two lightning bolts of different charges clashed with one another.

"_This girl is a rival." _They bought thought to themselves as they parted.

"Saki have you talked to your sister?" Nodoka asked Saki with that event in her mind.

"No not yet, I wanted to, but I didn't want to speak to her in public." Saki replied sadly. She had many opportunities to ask for forgiveness awhile ago but there wasn't really any private time except for that time Teru raped her in the dressing room, without her knowledge.

"It surely looked like you two were already close back there." Nodoka replied. She couldn't imagine two people sharing something that looked like a half hug to not be close. In fact, she could swear that if they were alone, Teru would've transformed that soft whisper into a kiss.

"It's only for the movie. We're supposed to be sisters in this film you see." Saki showed Nodoka the script which Nodoka borrowed and had a look.

The two conspirators continued to discuss as they left the studio after they dealt with the saboteurs. Hisa who was farther from her home than Sumire worried on how she will get home as she already missed the last train for her prefecture.

"You should've worried about that earlier." Sumire teased.

"Yeah, I got caught up in all the action." Hisa sighed. Between dealing with the assailants and worrying about Saki, she forgot about herself.

"I have an idea. Why don't you sleep at my place?" Sumire offered her help to the Kiyosumi president.

"Eh? But I don't want to cause any trouble." Hisa attempted to decline Hirose's offer while waving both her hands sideways in a 'no' gesture.

"But I insist."

Sumire said this with a very sad and grim tone.

Hisa could not help but smile and appreciate Sumire's repentance over what happened even if she was not directly at fault. To Sumire's surprise, Hisa embraced her from behind and made her gasped 'eh' for a moment.

"You're another stupid one aren't you?" Hisa said this while giggling.

"W-What do you mean? That's very rude of you!" Sumire blushed as she felt the other girl's breath brush against her neck.

"Stop blaming yourself. If there's something, you need to praise yourself for it's because of you that the sisters are now a step closer to becoming family again." Hisa said this with a very serious yet consoling look on her face.

"But still…" Sumire continued to insist on sharing with the blame.

"You're stubborn! Fine I'll stay with you in your place if you insist that much!" Hisa ended the hug and poked the cheek of the other.

"You're too much of a player aren't you?" Sumire said as she fixed her hair which was roughed up a bit by Hisa when she hugged her.

"Eh?" Hisa paused for a moment as she wondered what Sumire was getting at.

"Hugging other people like that, don't you already have that Mihoko girl?" Sumire said with a discriminating look.

"Eh?!"

Hisa gasped. To hear Mihoko's name used like that in that manner made her blush up to her ears.

"Oh wait, there's that girl named Yumi too."

Sumire continued.

"Wasn't she a member of another mahjong club? Are you trying to make a harem of strong mahjong plays or something?" Sumire added with an 'oh please' face.

"What does that even mean?! M-Mihoko and I aren't what you think and Yumi is my-…!" Hisa continued to explain but was once again bombarded by the enemy sergeant.

"What? You're blushing? So who is it after all? That girl from Kazekoshi or that purple head from Tsuruga?" Sumire had a huge grin on his face as she felt the teasing side finally move for her.

"I- I'm telling you that you're wrong!" Hisa shouted this out aloud in full embarrassment. The current score would be one and zero, and the girl who calls herself Sumire won this round.


	4. Chapter 4

**Love in Bloom  
**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own saki or any of the characters that stars on Saki.  
**

Start of Note-

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for my mistake about Toyone. She is in fact a third year, I guess somewhere along the lines, since she was new in Iwate, I hypnotized myself to consider her a third year. Probably because I was longing for more of her and couldn't accept the fact that she's probably gone forever after that arc. However, I can't change things now can I? She'll continue to be a first year in this fic. Sorry again.

–End of note.

PS: and I might not be able to update it this week since i want to concentrate on my other fic :3

* * *

One o'clock in the afternoon, Thursday, in a prefecture called Nara six people were practicing hard. The Achiga club was busy practicing and one of them was specially fired up. Shizuno Takakamo who usually scored the least is currently holding her own against her monster teammates: Kuro and Yuu Matsumi and even their fastest player Ako was playing too.

"Ippatsu Tsumo! Ii Pei Kou in the seat wind and plus the riichi stick that's a dealer mangan! That will be four thousand please!" Shizuno said this out loud as she finished the game with a dealer mangan. Her friends were all astounded by her performance and even clapped her victory.

"She really improved after dueling with that Miyanaga Saki didn't she?" Arata observed the games with Harue Akado. Compared to before, Shizuno was now able to generate strong hands in a shorter amount of time. Even with Kuro hogging all the Doras she was still able to get a mangan and that's amazing already as it is.

"In all her games with Miyanaga Saki she never scored one win. Not one hand. However, she gained something important and that's experience. While trying her best to score before she gets clobbered, she found her own technique. It's still unpolished but she will only get better from here on out." Akado replied with shine in her eyes as she watched one of her students grow. Just now while they were talking Shizuno just scored a dealer baiman by Tsumo again.

"Does that mean she's catching up to Miyanaga Saki?" Arata sounded hopeful for a moment. If Shizuno can match Saki then everyone out there is but bread floating in a pond. Since Yuu Matsumi will be leaving them next year it's utmost priority that everyone else get stronger. Since she was appointed to be the team president then it's her duty to see to the growth of her members.

"No! I'm far from her! Very far!" Shizuno interrupted after overhearing the discussion. Arata and Akado were surprised to hear this from the very person they were talking about.

The coach felt proud that her student was able to assess herself well. It's something many players are lacking. There are those who jump in carelessly with overconfidence while there are those who cower in the back with inferiority. However, what Shizuno had was respect for the champion. After dueling with her for many games and for many hours Shizuno could tell their difference and how much more she needed to gain to catch up.

"You're right. Did you know that Miyanaga gets exponentially stronger when she removes her socks? In all of your games she kept her socks on, which meant she must've only been using at most only twenty percent of her true abilities. I spoke with a friend and according to her, when she talked to Amae Koromo, Saki's abilities seemed to increase by a thousand fold." Akado waved her finger in a 'no' gesture. The friend this coach is talking about is a katsudon loving player who visits a certain café regularly. Ako, Kuro and Yuu squealed 'eh?!' when they heard this.

"A-A thousand fold?" Yuu felt shivers down her spine. She could not imagine the bottom of Saki's potential if what was shown to them was only a glimpse of the unthinkable.

"I- I guess it's impossible after all…" Kuro looked lost at the thought that there was a monster holding back all her abilities and still managed to win all her games without losing a hand. It was worse than playing with Miyanaga Teru, at least with Teru they managed to score and they can tell that Teru was at least taking them more seriously.

"No! I swear… the next time we meet I'll make her take it off! I'll force her to take them all off!" Shizuno had her eyes ablaze when she said this… at least until she noticed the condescending look her teammates and coach had at her after this statement.

"That sounded really… kinky…" Ako was the first person to comment before blushing and looking away. She had her hand on her mouth as if she was stopping herself from saying something more.

"E-Eh? I- I didn't mean it like that-…!" It was clear to Shizuno that all her teammates shared the same thoughts as Ako did. She raised her hands while waving them as if to say 'no way' while constantly receiving the judging stares of her friends.

"You know Shizuno…"

Arata walked close and upfront to Takakamo who was still busy denying her teammates' interpretation.

"If it's just making her 'take it all off' didn't you already do that in the first night of the camp?" It was surprising for Arata to tease somebody other than Akado. Everybody else giggled after hearing Shizuno gasped frantically.

"I- I'm telling you it was a misunderstanding! W-We didn't-...! It was-…!" Shizuno's eyes were beginning to swirl. For the first time in her life she felt truly helpless. She remembered how awkward the following nights became because of that terrible misunderstanding. There were times that she wanted to talk to Saki but her other roommate's eyes would observe her like a security camera.

"It's alright Shizuno; Japan has become liberal about these kinds of stuff." Akado patted her student's back while still wearing a huge grin. Shizuno almost coughed after getting hit on her back.

"C-Coach even you?" Shizuno had tears forming around her eyes as the person she expected to calm everybody down betrayed her.

"We're only playing! Loosen up!"

Akado finally decided to end the teasing party before Shizuno could cry. She stepped forward and started writing something on the whiteboard. After writing everything she slammed her hands on the surface of the board as if to make a statement.

"Listen up! Achiga isn't finished yet! There's still the world competition in which four other individuals will be chosen to team up with Miyanaga Saki to represent Japan." Akado flung a folder filled with news and files that pertained to the event which landed on the table.

"Oh!? W-World competition?!" The club roared with curiosity and anticipation. Shizuno was on leaning on her seat with gleaming eyes as she listened to her coach.

"Question!" Arata raised her hand to gain the attention of her coach.

"Um." Akado pointed to the girl to acknowledge her. Everybody paid attention to Arata thinking that what she'll ask is the same thing as what they wanted to ask.

"The champion of the Nationals is Kiyosumi High. Why doesn't the government just choose them to represent Japan?" Arata wondered. This is of course a good question. If the Nationals allowed the best team to hold the trophy then why not allow the winners to represent the country? The other members nodded curiously for they shared the same question.

"It's true that Kiyosumi did rise as the best in that tournament, there's no argument there. However, there are members from other team that are better than some members in Kiyosumi. Let's say Miyanaga Teru for example. Imagine if we put her in Kiyosumi's roster as their vanguard. Now let's say Toki of Senriyama was their Sergeant, Komaki Jindai their Lieutenant and Amae Koromo their Vice Captain." With this comparison the members immediately figured out what the coach was going on about. They all said 'ohhh' almost in unison as they understand what the selection was for.

"So they're trying to create a dream team!" Shizuno closed her hand as she clapped. She could imagine the monsters that her coach enumerated with Saki shining in the middle.

"W-Wait doesn't this mean that we'll have to face all of those monsters again?!" Kuro was quick to figure the situation they were in.

"Yes! Those four I mentioned will join most likely. Nope, I'd say that it's a hundred percent chance that they will join." Akado was sorry that she had to affirm Kuro's fears but they had to know the depth of the competition they will tackle.

"T-Then we won't have that much of a chance…" Kuro felt defeated immediately after hearing that her previous dilemma will be seating in front of her again. She remembered how it felt fighting Senriyama and especially Shiraitodai. Saki may not be participating but those in that pool are surely sharks hungry for fresh meat.

"No! I think we have a chance." Shizuno stepped forward as soon as she saw her teammates become crestfallen. She had her fists raised as she stomped in front to prove her point.

"S-Shizuno…" Kuro felt as if Shizuno was addressing her since she was the one who was first to lose her courage.

"It wasn't Senriyama or Eisui or Ryuumonbochi that faced Kiyosumi, Shiraitodai and Rinkai High in the championships! Last time I checked it was us! Yes Toki-san is strong! Miyanaga Teru-san is powerful! Komaki Jindai is also strong and Amae Koromo is amazing too! But in this tournament didn't we show everyone that we are strong too?!" Shizuno was filled with passion as she said this. A few seconds later all of her teammates began to form a circle with her and together she led them into raising their hands forward as a sign of their teamwork.

"You're right Shizuno. Each of us has proven our strength in the Nationals. But we're stronger now! We're now stronger than ever!" Ako added to Shizuno's glorious encouragements.

"Achigaaaaa Fight!" They shouted with full spirits as they hustled. Akado stayed behind them with a weird smile on her face.

"_Team spirit is good and all but please don't forget that this will be an individual competition._" She said this to herself and didn't bother telling them. She wanted them to keep this level of confidence until the tournament comes.

"Sensei! When is the tournament?" Shizuno asked her coach excitedly after the pep-talk.

"It's still two months from now. However, Shizuno and Arata, I will need the both of you to come with me to Shiga prefecture later so we can enter our names in the competition." Akado started handing out papers to her members that they needed to fill up to enter the competition.

"Can we come?" Ako asked the coach. She wondered why only Arata and Shizuno were invited.

"Sorry but I only brought a small car today. Not all of you would fit so I'm only taking the club president and Shizuno with me." Akado replied with a hint of regret in her voice.

"Eh? Not that I complain but, why me?" Shizuno wondered why it was important that she comes. Was it because she was the general in the team in the nationals?

"I don't know it myself but you were requested to come, don't you want to?" Akado asked. Apparently it's not mandatory for Shizuno to come with her and she wondered if Shizuno had better things to do.

"I'll come!" Shizuno replied cheerfully. She felt bad that some of her teammates couldn't come but a chance to explore other prefectures doesn't come often especially Shiga prefecture.

* * *

A couple of hours ago, eight o'clock A.M. in West Tokyo, a girl who was permitted to take the day off by their principal is struggling in the kitchen. Various ingredients were littered everywhere. There were vegetables squashed on the cutting board, meat crumbs stuck in the kitchen sink's drain and some bits of poorly attempted sushi were on the floor. In the middle of it all was a pink haired third-year carelessly chopping up a new batch of cabbages.

Outside the kitchen, footsteps can be heard approaching the room, it was her mother. She yawned as she rubbed her eyes for she was still sleepy and was only awoken by the noise made by a novice.

"Why so loud? I thought you had a day off today?"

She asked as she attempted to open the door.

"Your filming is still at noon so why don't you-…! Oh my god!" She screamed as she saw the mess her daughter made in the kitchen. At first she thought she was still half asleep but reality quickly told her that her kitchen is indeed in shambles. Teru turned to her trying to look confident but with tears forming around her eyes.

"Sorry was I being too loud?" Teru asked. She didn't look apologetic at all and instead she went back to noisily butchering that poor cabbage.

"A-Ah… I mean… it's nice that you're learning how to cook but maybe you'd like me to help?" Teru's mom nervously watched her daughter waste the cabbage into pieces. She was worried that sooner or later the girl would cut herself.

"I can do this mom, I already have the recipe." Teru rebelliously declined her mother's offer before putting what she just worked on into a tin pot which was resting on a burner. The pot was filled with brown, icky liquid with many floating ingredients on top.

"Just what exactly are you making?" Her mom had ideas what it was but she needed to know exactly.

"Beef Curry." Teru replied. Apparently she's making rice curry, or just known as curry, with beef as the main ingredient. It's one of the most popular foods in Japan. Basically the Japanese have three common types of curry and that's either rice, udon or pan (bread) and Teru decided to do what she deemed to be the easiest.

"_For Teru to be this distracted and into cooking she must be thinking about someone. I wonder who it is. Who's the unlu-… err I mean lucky guy who will receive Teru's first dish?"_

The mother imagined her daughter going out with someone. She's not very picky with who her children chooses as long as they don't take it too far.

"I- I see, so who are you cooking for?" She asked a bit teasingly. She hoped that Teru would give her an answer but prepared herself to be disappointed. She blew on the hot coffee that she prepared while watching Teru and started to slowly take a sip.

"S-Saki…"

"Pfft!" The mother spilled the coffee she was drinking and almost dropped her cup. Her eyes widened as she realized that one of her beloved daughters is in danger today.

"Y-Yesterday she forgot her bento that she made so…"

Teru remembered what happened the day before, which was Wednesday, when Saki got herself hungry because she didn't bring her bento. Unfortunately Teru had nothing to share with her little sister that time because she preemptively ate hers before break-time. She hopes this time something similar would happen and this time she'll be ready.

"I-It's not like I want to be close to her or anything. I- I just want our filming to go well." Teru almost cut herself due to being distracted while cutting onions.

"_She's so cute!_"

The mother had a smirk on her face as she watched her daughter panic. She approached the pink-haired girl and embraced her from behind to comfort her.

"You know, why don't you just talk to her?" She suggested. She knew how much Teru wanted to make up with her little sister but she also knew that Teru was having problems pushing herself to do it.

"It's not that easy mom… I said things… things that a sister shouldn't say." Teru remembered how she declared that she didn't have any sisters in an interview. She also remembered how Saki had no problems calling her 'Miyanaga Teru' instead of oneechan in the set. Frankly she was scared how Saki would react if she was to approach her.

"Teru, when in your time as sisters did you think of Saki as the grudge keeping type?" The mother had a lecturing voice as she said this.

"But…" Teru turned to talk directly to her mother.

"Sure there was the time when you totally ignored her when she came here all on her own, risking getting kidnapped or getting into an accident just to see you." The mother said this with a casual smile almost as if this was nothing big.

"Ugh!" Her mother's words acted like sharp lightning bolts that pierced her heart and burnt holes in Teru's body.

"And it's totally obvious that she only joined the tournaments just to be close to you who still kept ignoring her."

"Gah!"

"And of course you crushed her feelings when you shunned her away in public when you told everyone in the media that you had no such thing as a little sister and completely isolated her."

"… Please just kill me." At this point, Teru was already crestfallen while sitting in a fetal position in one corner of the kitchen while using the knife to draw sad pictures on the wall.

"E-Eh?! I didn't mean anything bad!"

The mother realized the damage she did just now and rushed beside her suffering daughter.

"What I mean is that after everything it's still obvious that Saki is doing her best to reach out to you. All you have to do is extend your arms too." Said the mother as she placed her caring hands on her daughter's shoulder.

Teru looked back at her mom and nodded. Her advice might hold some meaning but she still didn't know if she had it in her to make the first move. Between facing all the other mahjong players in the world simultaneously and confronting Saki she would choose the first which is less heartrending.

"I- I need to go!" Teru gasped as she looked at the time.

"Wait I thought your filming is in the afternoon?" Their mom remembered her daughter giving her the filming schedule two days ago and if Teru went now she's hours early the appointed time.

"We'll be doing the filming in Shiga prefecture today. So I need to go earlier!" Teru replied. She took a portion of what she made and placed it inside a plastic box before putting it in her shoulder bag waving goodbye.

"She's energetic today isn't she?"

The mother approached the pot filled with what Teru cooked and took a spoonful of the curry. Upon putting it in her mouth she turned pale and she swore that her soul would come out with just a little more prodding.

"Y-You useless husband you better have taught Saki how to eat weird kinds of food because this one might kill her!" Once again she feared for the life of her youngest daughter as she imagined a stampede of wildebeests rampaging above her to emulate her suffering from tasting that curry.

* * *

Nine o'clock A.M. in Nagano another girl was busy dressing up in front of the mirror. She was wearing white uniform that does not represent her school. In fact it was the uniform her sister gave her for the film; it's the uniform of Shiraitodai High located in West Tokyo which ironically was their ultimate rival last competition. For consistency, the film decided on using this uniform instead of making their own. This was to gather fans of both Shiraitodai and Kiyosumi although in a round about way, it's a wonder on how Kiyosumi's fans would feel after seeing their representative wearing their rival's uniform. However, after talking with the principal, they were all too eager to allow Saki to wear it.

Saki spun in front of the mirror to grade herself. Many called her cute while she was wearing it but she herself didn't feel that she was. Rather, she never saw herself as 'cute' or 'pretty' for her standard of beauty was something quite close to Haramura Nodoka: long hair, fair skin, huge breasts.

"So this is what I would've been wearing if I went with oneechan…" Saki imagined the days that could've been if she chose to go with her mom and sister instead of staying with her dad. She wants to say that she doesn't regret her decision but the truth is she's lonely without them. Especially since the dad she decided to stay with is currently away for work for an indefinite amount of time. They only get to talk to each other every time he calls on the land phone. He sends her money which he transfers to her bank account which was substantial enough to pay for everything she needs.

Even after grading herself as 'unsure' if she's truly cute or not, she did enjoy wearing the same thing as her sister used to. She turned again in front of the mirror while imagining herself with her sister. In her imagination her sister was rubbing her hair as she played around her before they ended in a sisterly embrace. While in that embrace they would tell each other stories and talk about how each other's day went out. Oh how she loved listening to her sister. Teru's stories were music to her ears and her teachings were law to her understanding. However what she loved the most is how her sister would plant a kiss on her forehead while encouraging her to grow.

"Oneechan…"

She got a magazine which was sitting on a mahjong table and hugged it close to her heart. This was the last issue of that magazine that had Miyanaga Teru's face on the front cover for she was replaced with Saki's and Nodoka's face on the next issues. She imagined how it would be after they reconcile and when they become a family again and she would've continued to imagine it for a little while longer if not for a knock on the door interrupted her.

"A-Ah! Coming!" Saki hurried to answer and open the door. She was expecting somebody today.

"Miyanaga-san!" It was Toyone. Fortunately enough they were in the same class and with the help of the student council president they managed to convince the principal to allow Toyone Anetai to escort Saki to Shiga prefecture.

"Anetai-san!" Saki gladly allowed her teammate inside. Toyone was shy at first but she was also pretty happy to get to see Saki's home.

"So this is where Miyanaga-san lives." Toyone was amazed on how big it was for someone who was living alone. This was the home that housed her whole family back then so it was pretty big, quite big for someone who's now alone in the house.

"P-please make yourself at home! I'll prepare some juice!" Saki wasn't used to having visitors but what she was used to were cooking and other chores. Unlike Teru, she grew up with her dad who knows totally nothing about cooking so she was forced to learn the art by herself. Everyday she would prepare breakfast for the both of them and also the bento for the both of them.

It didn't take Saki three minutes when she came back with a tray holding a glass and a pitcher of juice and five rectangular sandwiches. Toyone was excited to taste the sandwich Saki prepared in such a short time.

"Miyanaga-san these are amazing! How did you manage to prepare something this tasty in a short time?!" Toyone was amazed. Although making a sandwich is something not too impressive, the balance of the ingredients inside the sandwich Saki made were in perfect harmony and it was as if it was something bought in a restaurant.

"I got used to it." Saki smiled and giggled a bit while scratching the back of her head. Sometimes his father would bring officemates and Saki would rush to prepare them snacks or meals if necessary. Before, she panicked easily and could only prepare precooked stuff but as time went on she learned more and more techniques when it came to cooking.

"Miyanaga-san, you live alone right? Since when?" Toyone wondered if Saki had always been alone.

"I had been living here with my dad until two months ago. After we won in the prefectural division in the tournament he suddenly needed to go away for work. I was thankful that I didn't have to relocate with him." Saki replied. She was adamant in staying in Kiyosumi because her father needed to work abroad. Going outside of the country meant destroying her chance of making up with Teru and she simply cannot allow something like that to happen.

"By the way Miyanaga-san, you look really stellar in that uniform!" Toyone noticed the Shiraitodai attire Miyanaga was wearing. Compared to Kiyosumi's uniform, Shiraitodai's really stands out. It had this level of elite feeling oozing about like honey in a beehive.

"T-Thank you very much." Saki blushed. This was not the first time she was praised wearing this uniform.

"Are you ready Miyanaga-san?" Toyone asked as she checked her own watch for the time. They agreed leaving at nine thirty A.M. and that's there's only five minutes left.

"A-Ah!"

Saki was surprised to see the time. She was too busy with preparing herself and attending to Anetai that she forgot why they met in her house in the first place.

"W-Wait I'm not just ready yet!" Saki rushed inside her room and went out with a jacket.

"A jacket?" Toyone wondered why Saki needed a jacket. She wasn't sick and she didn't have the same constitution as that girl from Achiga had.

"I-It's awkward if some people who know me outside will see me wearing Shiraitodai's uniform so…" Saki looked embarrassed while saying this.

Toyone could see the sincere shyness overflowing from Saki's fragile stature.

"I understand!"

The tall girl went behind her classmate and teammate and placed the jacket on the shorter girl herself. Then, she removed her hat and covered the girl's head as well. That way she won't have anything to worry about. Just as she placed her arms around the girl's figure she remembered something: it was the memory of her old teammates. She remembered a girl who calls herself Shiromi Kosegawa. She's an important teammate and also an important person in her life but there was something about Shiromi that she envied: Kurumi Kakura. Everyday she would see Kurumi sitting on Shiromi's lap like loving sisters or probably if you look carefully maybe even more than that and it was something Toyone wanted to experience. Right now as she embraced Saki inside the jacket she felt and wondered if she and her general can have that relationship as well.

"A-Anetai-san let's get going?" Saki asked after completely putting on the jacket.

"A-Ah! O-of course! Sorry I was just completely dazzled with Miyanaga-san's cuteness!" Toyone hugged Saki even more from behind and started rubbing her cheeks with her.

"A-Anetai-san the uniform will get wrinkled!" Saki did not seem to mind her cheeks getting violated like that but rather the uniform that was given to her by her sister. Because of all the ruckus and skin-ship it took them thirty minutes more before they left the house. Furthermore, there sitting in Saki's kitchen was a plastic filled the food she cooked for herself now forgotten.

Twelve O'clock P.M. in the Shiga prefecture, two people who had been sneaking around together since they gave birth to their 'Sisterly Bonds' operation are eating in a restaurant directly beside the Shiga Park Hotel, which was where the people related to the film are supposed to meet by. Takei Hisa had a banana parfait in front of her while Sumire had chocolate sundae.

"One thirty?" Hisa asked Sumire to check her sources. It would be annoying if they were there that early and it turns out it will start five in the afternoon.

"That's what the director said." Sumire replied.

"Riichi!" Hisa said this cheerfully while waving her hand as if she was throwing a riichi stick on the small dining table.

"Now what's this ridiculousness you're talking about?" Sumire raised an eyebrow curiously. She looked at the Kiyosumi president weirdly as that girl continued to grin confidently at her.

"What I'm saying is that something good will happen today! I can feel it." Hisa replied without dropping her smile. She went back into eating her parfait with a happy expression on her face.

"Like one of those bad waits you keep using?" Sumire smiled back and even giggled for a bit.

"Exactly!" Hisa snapped her finger with emphasis.

"Ridiculous." Sumire looked away while eating her sundae. She could not bet on something that she's not sure about. However she does believe that if something was to happen, it might as well happen here, where it's far and away from their comfort zones. While eating, she accidentally allowed a drip of the sundae to flow out of her mouth and trickledown slowly below her lips.

"Hey it's bad to waste food!"

Hisa took a finger and used it to wipe the cream and put it in her mouth.

"Delicious!" Hisa said this with utter cheerfulness,

"Y-You-…!"

Sumire was flustered red after this seemingly shameless act. Even though that cream didn't enter her mouth, it literally touched her lips. If that's the case then it's entirely correct to say that their lips have already indirectly collided and that's something Sumire was bothered about.

"_W-Was that an indirect kiss just now? N-No I can't be sidetracked!_" Sumire waved her head from side to side rapidly in embarrassment and frustration she was just about to scold that girl when-….

"U-Ueno-san!?" A surprised voice interrupted their conversation. It was a blond girl who had heterochromatic eyes. It was the captain of another popular school which was very well known in Nagano: Kazekoshi High. She walked inside the restaurant with several Kazekoshi members in tow.

"M-Mihoko." Hisa was surprised to see her old rival. She wondered what Mihoko's business there was. After all she only expected people who had to do something with the film to come. Right now, Mihoko and her members had no direct business being there.

"D-Did you two just… did Ueno-san just…" Mihoko was blushing furiously as she tried to get out what she wanted to say. She had one hand raised and a finger pointed at Sumire.

"Eh? What's wrong? That cream didn't enter her mouth." Hisa had an 'it's not my fault' look on her face as she wore a sad frown to flash at Mihoko.

"T-That's not the issue!"

Mihoko replied with a high pitched voice. Then she took an ice cream cone that she just ordered and allowed a portion of it to trickle down her cheek.

"O-Oh no how clumsy of me!" Mihoko acted innocent as she flashed a 'cute' and clumsy look at Hisa.

"Captain there's ice cream on your cheeks, don't worry I'll get it for you." Miharu Yoshitone took out her handkerchief and wiped the ice cream from her captain's cheeks. Immediately after that, an enormous killing intent enveloped the place directed at Yoshitone. It was the last thing she felt before she fell unconscious face first on the table they were sitting on. It was a powerful blow by an enraged monster with an innocent face that caused this but it happened to fast that no one even noticed.

"C-Captain! Yoshitone suddenly collapsed on the table!" Kana flailed as she worried for her comrade who had a terrified look on her face as she slept on the table.

"It must be because of fatigue, she did wake up early." Mihoko had both of her eyes closed as she said this. She still had one hand in a fist but kept it hidden under the table.

"Ah look who's here!" Another voice came in to join. It was no other than the general of the team of a school named Tsuruga. Like Kazekoshi she had her entire team with her. A girl who had very little presence was clinging around her left arm like a koala to a tree.

"Ah! Yumi! You're here too!" Hisa stood up to wave back at the Tsuruga general. That general approached them and both the third years gave each other a high five. This high five was a special high five though since after colliding hands they didn't retract their hands and even closed their fingers on each other. They held hands for a few seconds with a smile as if it was a secret code between close friends… or even closer than that.

"Y-Yumi-sempai what did that mean just now?!' Momo asked jealously immediately after the two ended their high five. She had an intensely worried look on her face.

"Hmm? It's a high five. Don't you do it with your friends Momo?" Yumi replied while her gaze was still fixated on Hisa who sat back on her seat.

"B-But-… _w-why is this girl so close to sempai?!_"

"_W-Why is Tsuruga's general so familiar with Ueno-san?!_"

Both Mihoko and Momo puffed up their cheeks and held their breath with frustrated looks while the other members around them kept their distance worried that they might end up like Yoshitone who was still sleeping on the table.

"_So… Miyanaga Saki isn't the only person who has a monopoly on young girls. W-Wait why am I acting like I need to be concerned about this!_" Sumire Hirose watched how the oblivious Hisa dealt with the girls who seem to have interests in her. She worried that with all this commotion they might forget their true objective, however looking at the other side of the street, no one familiar has arrived so there might still be some time for this.

* * *

Twelve O'clock P.M. a coach and two of her club members have finally arrived in Shiga prefecture by car. It appears that the coach had an appointment and she was to meet her inside a Seafood Restaurant. The price was seven thousand yen per head then you can eat all you want. It's not bad but it's not like Akado has to worry about money, first and foremost the new funding the club has is already enough and more, second she's not the one paying but her acquaintance. However, before they could enjoy that pleasure of dining she has to stop a certain girl first from going wild about exploring the city.

"Can we go here?! Let's visit this later!" Shizuno kept bugging her coach to visit a certain park that's famous during the winter which she still wanted to see even though it's still not yet winter.

"Later, first we need to meet with the official first." Akado replied. She couldn't believe how full her hand is with just one overactive girl.

"Akado-san this friend of yours who is she?" Arata couldn't help but wonder who the person they were gonna meet was. She walked close to Akado as she waited for a reply.

"She was the coach of Miyamori High in the tournament. Luckily for us she was asked to be an official in the next tournament. Now we can ask her to help us with the registration and we don't even have to worry about lines." Akado puffed up her chest as she proudly explained to her girls her connections. It's times like this that makes her feel like an actual coach.

With the promise to look around later, Shizuno finally calmed down as they headed to their destination. Inside the restaurant an attendant approached them and Akado gave the man a room number. It was the room number that her acquaintance emailed and sure enough the attendant immediately recognized it and even escorted them to their room. The room was located on the second floor where no one else was there. The color of the corridors was beige and the floor was covered with expensive looking carpets. It truly was a formal type of restaurant.

"Please come inside ma'am." The attendant opened the door for them and immediately the person who was waiting for them greeted them as she sat on a Japanese style table, it's the kind where you sit on the floor.

"Sorry for making you wait sensei." Akado bowed as she entered the room.

"Not at all, in fact I just got here recently too." The old lady replied.

Shizuno and Arata who were hidden behind Harue Akado moved in to see who it was. Shizuno was surprised to see a familiar face and was overjoyed.

"Y-You're Toshi-sensei?! T-Thank you very much!" She kneeled and bowed in front of the old woman who was already preparing an order for the attendant to take.

"My goodness, what ever for?" Toshi wondered why this girl in front of her was being so polite. She doesn't remember doing anything worth of such a feat.

"Thank you for not taking Akado-san away from us! Because of that we managed to get to fight on the top!" She thanked the old lady with all her heart.

"A-Ah!? M-me too! Please accept my deepest thanks!" Arata who had no idea who exactly the old lady was finally realized her importance. She bowed beside Shizuno and sincerely offered her gratitude.

"G-Girls…" Harue Akado did not know what was going on but she felt special that the girls were thinking so much about her.

"Oh my… girls you don't have to thank me. If you want to thank someone that's your coach. She loved you girls so much that she decided to stay with you until you've given up or until you graduate." The old lady persuaded the girls to stand up.

"P-Please don't say that, it's embarrassing." Akado blushed since she didn't want the girls to know what she has given away for them.

"No! Akado-san! Please don't give away your dream of playing mahjong just for us!" Arata who has been Akado's biggest fan since she was a child did not like how it sounded like Akado will never play in the professional league again.

"Arata…"

"I- I want to see Akado-san play again! Please don't stop playing mahjong just because you need to coach us!" Arata said this in an almost begging manner. It's rare for the strong willed Arata to be like this but she was really against the thought of her idol never playing again.

"I'm with her Akado-san! We need you Akado-san but if you must leave please don't abandon your dream for us! Achiga has become strong! We will wait for you if we have too and we won't fall back!" Shizuno backed Arata. She too didn't want Harue to back out of the pro leagues now that the team competition is finished.

Harue Akado sighed after hearing the two girls. Then almost as if nothing happened she sat beside them and smiled before patting them both on the back.

"Did I ever say I will quit mahjong? Of course not! This is my dream and passion. I simply allowed this year's pro league competitions to pass. Next year it will be held directly after the Nationals and when that comes the world will see a new kind of Harue Akado! A stronger Harue Akado!" The coach cheered her members up.

"R-Really?" The two girls were still teary eyed before they finally accepted Akado's explanation.

"What powerful bonds you have. I'm envious."

Toshi complimented them for that act of selflessness. She was amazed that such strong bonds could be created between a coach and her members.

"I need to attend a job I took in a few minutes so let's finish this shall we? Write all the names of your members who will participate in this form then leave everything to me." Toshi handed Harue the form which the latter gratefully accepted. It didn't take them five minutes to fill everything up and return the form to the old lady.

"A job?"

"Yes, I'm currently acting in a film as a mother to two protagonists." Toshi had a happy and wishful smile as she said this.

"E-Eh?!" Everybody in front of her gasped.

"Amazing! So Akado-san's sensei isn't only a pro but also an actor?!" Shizuno had nothing but praises for the old lady.

"Don't flatter me so much, it's only small role. The ones with really big roles this time are them." Toshi giggled as the images of two people appeared in her mind.

"Them?" Arata was curious about who 'they' were because the tone the old lady was using was as if these people are familiar.

"The two best mahjong players in high school of course."

"Y-You don't mean Miyanaga Saki-san and Miyanaga Teru?!" Shizuno bolted up as the thought of Saki acting in a film crossed her mind.

"Yes." The old lady nodded.

"Hoeh? Sensei is it really true that those two are unrelated?" Harue Akado who had access to many rumors wanted to confirm something to her mentor.

"I know what you mean and when you think about it, it's really not surprising for people to think that they're siblings."

Four orders of Gunkan-maki sushi arrived filled with urchin and salmon-roe. There were also tea cups served with them and some special sauce that went perfectly together with the sushi. Usually Shizuno Takakamo is a girl who gets excited after seeing these things but currently she's too intent on listening to whatever the old lady had to say about the Miyanagas.

"However, not too long ago during the time of the tournament, Miyanaga Teru publicly claimed that she had no sisters."

"So they're not really related?" Shizuno interrupted. She couldn't help but dig dipper into this topic.

"If you will take Teru's word for it then yes they're not related but… I've been the official in many tournaments the former champion joined and what I found is that Miyanaga Teru is currently living only with her mom. What's interesting is that Miyanaga Saki until two months ago had only been living with her dad." Toshi had a serious look on her face as she explained this to the girls in front of her whose interests have been aroused.

"Then that means-…!"

"I don't want to think about it. If our suspicions are true then it's too cruel. I wouldn't get in between them if it's not necessary." Toshi wanted to end the topic because it isn't really like her to talk about other people unless it has something to do with mahjong.

Shizuno looked down and was silent for a moment. She remembered Saki's happy face back then in their training camp and couldn't believe that someone like that was hiding something sad. Then, she imagined the cold face of Miyanaga Teru back in the team competition. She felt unreasonably angry at that girl who shunned her own sister away, especially someone as gentle as that girl who rewarded her a dozen of matches that she begged for.

"Toshi-sensei! D-Do you think you can let us come to watch the filming?!" Shizuno asked the old lady with an excited yet adamant look on her face.

"A-Ah Shizuno we can't trouble sensei anymore." Harue felt embarrassed about her student's actions.

"No, in fact I insist! The director doesn't mind either as long as you don't suddenly jump in the set and ruin everything of course." The old lady was happy to agree with Shizuno and promised to take her in the set.

"Please coach!" Shizuno looked at Akado with cute and tearful eyes that she couldn't bare to say no to.

"Fine…" Harue gave up and nodded.

"Hurray!" In an instant, Takakamo was back to her cheerful and energetic self. They took their time eating the dishes they ordered and after a few minutes they finally left with Toshi.

* * *

One o'clock pm, two girls just arrived in the train station. They looked like they were in a hurry and for good reason: they only had thirty minutes left and they still didn't know exactly where the meeting place is.

"What did the director say Miyanaga-san?" Toyone asked. She was the one who had the map of the place but since she wasn't there when the exact place was relayed she needed more information to navigate.

"H-He said it's called Shiga Hotel Park." Saki replied after checking a paper where she wrote notes from yesterday's meeting.

"That doesn't really help much but I guess if we ask people someone can direct us there." Toyone proceeded to look for police officers, security guards or other people who looked credible enough to show them the directions for the place however most of them were too busy to pay them attention.

"Look isn't that-…! E-Excuse me!" A voice called out to Saki and Toyone while they were asking random bystanders for directions.

Saki and Toyone looked at the direction where the voice was coming from. There, Saki saw one familiar face and a couple of unfamiliar ones. The only person Saki recognized was a girl whose name was Toki Onjouji. She wasn't personally acquainted with that third year girl but she was one of the three people she had to face in her final match in the individuals.

"C-Can I have your autograph please!" It was Izumi Nijou who called to Saki. This girl was the girl who proclaimed herself to be the best first year. What was achievement for Saki was humble pie to her since this girl definitely debunked her idea of being the best. However instead of envying the champion she began to form admiration towards her for she symbolizes the potential of all first years and proved that not only third years can dominate in tournaments.

"S-Sure…" Saki has never really felt comfortable with giving autographs. In fact it was just recently that she forced herself to make her own 'autograph' so she could give something to persistent people who would come to her ever so often. She returned the piece of canvas that Izumi handed to her with her autograph already written with an ink brush.

"Miyanaga-san, our match was certainly most memorable to me." Toki started a conversation with the girl wearing a jacket and a hat who just finished giving her autograph.

"It was for me too. Onjouji-san's ability to read three turns into the future is really amazing!" Saki replied cheerfully while remembering that match.

"Thank you, but… wait how did you know I can read three turns into the future?" Toki realized something was off. It was widely known that she had the ability to read a turn ahead but her three turns ability was something relatively new. Only she and her teammates should know about it.

"Uhn… it's hard to explain but…" Saki couldn't find the words but what she remembered is that almost immediately when they sat down to start the match she saw hundreds of mirrors displayed behind and around her opponents. After that, she could understand her opponents' abilities as if she played with them for hundreds of times and that it was already usual for her to formulate counters against their powers. This ability was something she shared with another girl who can also summon virtual mirrors that looks into the soul of her opponents.

"Ah! We're going to be late. I'm sorry but perhaps you know the directions to a place called Shiga Hotel Park?" Toyone who looked more concern about the time than Saki took her chances with that group and asked.

"Oh this? It's not too far away from where we were." It was a girl who calls herself Ryuuka Shimizudani who gave Toyone the directions. She was very specific with the details and Toyone was thankful for her help.

With the help of Ryuuka's directions Toyone managed to reach the meeting place in the nick of time. She saw some people holding tripods and other stuff used for filming get down from a van. It is already obvious that they were the people Saki was working with and Toyone was happy to see them.

"Miyanaga-san we're finally-…!"

Toyone turned to tell her friend that they've finally made it. But to her surprise the girl she was supposed to escort there was nowhere to be found.

"Miyanaga-san? Miyanaga-san!" She looked behind the corner she just came from in search of her general but nobody was there.

Meanwhile in a completely different place not too far from where Toyone was a girl was almost in tears as she tried to find her way.

"W-Where am I? Did I take a wrong turn? W-Which way should I go now?" Miyanaga Saki was in the verge of crying as she went deeper into an alley going farther from where she's supposed to go.

One Fifteen P.M. another girl just arrived by train in Shiga. This girl had a huge shoulder bag where she kept the bento she just cooked and some extra dresses. She left the train station with confident strides until she finally realizes something.

"Wait… do I have a map?"

Teru's face darkened when she realized this important thing. She looked for a bench to sit on and dug the deepest parts of her shoulder bag to search for a map or some notes that she may have took yesterday. To her horror she found out the hard fact that the only things she packed are extra dresses that she might be able to force Saki into and the bentos. She could not believe the huge blunder she committed. She definitely did not have the option of going back to get it and her only comfort was that she had her mobile phone with her. Unfortunately she did not have the number of anyone in the film or the crew so it won't do her any good.

"_This is bad… I have seven important scenes today and they won't be able to continue without me. Which is worse is… is… Saki won't be able to taste my cooking!_"

Teru had a face similar to how heroes in an RPG game when they're about to face the final boss with nothing but their starting skills and default items. What's weird is that she seems more concerned about the food than the scenes themselves.

"_What I remember is that director said that it's quite a famous hotel so maybe if I ask someone people…_"

Thirty minutes later

"Just how many hotels are there in this prefecture?" Teru groaned as she sat on a bench in front of an empty lot, defeated. She tried thinking about other options to get there but an unbearable noise kept her from concentrating.

"Hey little girl, why don't you ditch the hat and jacket and play with us for a bit?" Two boys who seemed to be in high school, since they had their uniforms on, had a girl cornered. This girl was hiding her face with the shade of a big black hat and was wearing jacket that covered the white uniform she had underneath.

"I- I'm sorry but I have to be somewhere p-please let me go." The little girl squeaked. She was too afraid to shout and sounded as if she was in the verge of crying.

"_That voice…" _Teru opened her eyes as she formed an image in her mind on whose that voice belonged to. As she turned to her left she saw the girl cowering while hugging a bag close to her chest.

"To be out in this time of the day you're probably a delinquent too so why not just join us?" One of the boys persistently asked. This one was scarier than the other for he had a nose ring and greatly intimidated the poor girl.

"It's not like that I-…" The girl hesitated to say who she was and that she has a filming to attend to because her father greatly told her not in the phone last night. It's a reasonable thought because if they find out who she was things might get more out of hand than it already is.

"Don't be such a killjoy and come." A boy grabbed her by the wrist which caused her to gasp and squeal. However before the boy could pull her another hand grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her away from them.

"I'm sorry but this is my kouhai kindly please stop bullying her." Teru said this with her 'media' face. The two backed off seeing that this girl might be a year higher than them.

"You bi-…!"

"Stop it dude look at that uniform. She's from that Shiraitodai School." One of the boys recognized the popular uniform of Shiraitodai. However, surprisingly he didn't recognize who the girl in front of him was.

"We're in a field trip forgive me if this girl caused any troubles." Teru pulled the jacket off the girl to show them her uniform. It was as she expected it was the uniform that she had given and it was Saki.

"Come on man let's get out of here. Those bunch are trouble." The two finally decided to back off. The two girls didn't move an inch until the boys were completely out of sight.

Before Teru could say anything, she felt two arms hug around her waist tight from behind her. She felt something gently touch her back. She didn't need to know what it was for this always happened every time her little sister gets so scared. That girl's head would always push down on either her chest or back crying while looking for comfort.

"I- I'm sorry onee- I- I mean Miyanaga-san…" Saki immediately ended her embrace as soon as she realized what it was that she was doing. She was thankful that no one else was there or she would've broken her promise to herself never to let their secret out.

"_Saki…_" Teru turned to look at her little sister. At first she thought that Saki had abandoned her as well but just a few seconds ago she was sure that the girl was just about to call her 'oneechan'.

"I'm sorry I was just…"

Saki could not bother to look at her sister. Then, a single drop of water fell in between them. Not long after that both of them found themselves standing in the middle of a rain.

"Eh? It's raining…" Even with the rain Saki removed the hat Toyone lent her. Then, to Teru's surprise, Saki placed that hat on top of Teru's head.

"What are you…" Teru was speechless about what her sister is showing her right now. This girl was the one who was attacked and yet she's the one showing more maturity in this situation.

"Miyanaga Teru-san will be having her exams soon right? Getting sick is not acceptable right?"

Saki was smiling as she attempted to remove her jacket and transfer it to Teru. The older sister could not bear it anymore and grabbed her sister's hand and dragged her across the empty lot where something that looked like a small empty warehouse stands

"M-Miyanaga-san?" Saki was about to ask if something was wrong because she noticed something was off and lost about Teru. She was quickly silenced by her sister's embrace which enveloped her entire body.

"What is wrong with you?! What has that man taught you? Don't you even know what to call your own sister?" Teru cried as she gave in to her own feelings.

"O-Oneechan?" Saki's mouth was wide open as she heard something that she thought she would only hear in her dreams. She slowly allowed her arms to envelop her sister's waist as she felt Teru pull her closer.

"Say it again Saki. Let me hear it again." Teru who longed for her sister's affection felt ecstatic after hearing that little voice acknowledge her. To her it's a thousand times better than hearing her teammate exclaim 'tsumo' or ron. It felt more refreshing than water itself after being stuck in the middle of an empty, hot, and scorching desert.

"Oneechan! I'm sorry oneechan! Please forgive me, I want us to be a family again!" Saki too felt joyous. After all these years and all these months fighting off strong opponents she finally managed to say what she has always wanted to say to her sister. Officially she didn't know exactly what it is she had to be sorry for but she did believe that she did something extremely offensive to Teru which caused her to ignore her like that.

"I'm sorry too Saki. I was too conceited… can you ever forgive me?" Teru ended the embrace to look Saki directly in the eyes as she said this.

"I'm not angry at oneechan and I never was." Saki replied as she looked up to her sister. She was sincere about this for the only thing she felt when she was shunned was fear that her sister has totally abandoned her already.

"Oh Saki…" In a sudden burst of emotion, Teru forced Saki to return to her embrace before giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"_T-This is…_"

Saki remembered that kiss, that kiss that she has been searching for this entire three years. It was that kiss that allowed her to sleep at night when she was little. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she realized that this isn't a dream and she has finally reconciled with her most beloved sister.

"_Father, I told you that it's possible. We can be a family again._" Saki remembered her own words she used on her father. She was proud for being right and she wished that her dad could see them now.

It wasn't until after a minute did they end their hug because of a small croaking sound.

"S-Sorry oneechan." Saki blushed as she looked away while covering her stomach. Unfortunately she forgot the bento she cooked at home because of her rush.

"You're hungry?" Teru wondered as she looked at the blushing face of her sister.

"I- I can still hold out." Saki didn't want her sister to worry about her especially right now when they're stranded inside an old warehouse which was filled with kitchen utensils.

Teru rushed to search her bag for something that she made this morning. She was extremely happy to give the bento she made to Saki and hoped to hear a positive assessment from her little sister.

"Eh? T-Thank you very much oneechan but how about you?" Saki was hesitant to accept the box but Teru pushed it closer to her.

"Don't worry about me I already ate." Teru lied. She's just as hungry as Saki but her little sister's affection is enough to fill her.

"Okay!" Saki has a wide smile on her face which replaced her years as she accepted the box.

Two o'clock P.M. in front of the hotel everybody who had a part in the film was supposed to meet in the director and his crew were already worried about their stars. The two were usually either really early or just on time. They have never been late before and yet to be this much late today is something troubling.

"Sir, we just called Miyanaga Saki's home and no one's answering." One of the crewmen reported to his boss while waving the hand-phone he used to contact the girl's house.

"That girl lives alone, that means the house is already empty and she's somewhere on the way here."

The director deduced.

"How about Miyanaga Teru?" He turned once again to the crew who he placed in charge for contacting the girls.

"Her mom said that she already left for here hours ago." One man replied with a confused look all over his face. Both Miyanagas left diligently and yet both of them are currently missing.

"Do you think they met up?" The director wondered. He thought maybe the two contacted each other and managed to meet up somewhere.

"Sir, Miyanaga Saki has no mobile phone so I don't think they could've done that." The crewman replied. Once again they were out of leads.

* * *

Meanwhile a group of girls and an old lady were waiting near the director and his crew. It was non-other than Akado, Arata and Shizuno who followed Toshi hear hoping to see Saki in the filming.

"Is there a problem?" Akado asked her mentor. She noticed the long delay and the worried look on their faces.

"It seems that the two Miyanagas are missing." The old lady replied with her hand on her cheek. She too was worried for the two girls.

"Saki-san is missing?!" Shizuno felt something jolt inside her after hearing the news about Saki. She was unsure but she felt panicked and lost.

"Could it be possible that they both decided to ditch the filming?" Arata said this.

"No! Miyanaga-san isn't like that!"

Shizuno replied and vouched for Saki. She remembered how dedicated that girl can be as shown on how she kept playing Shizuno even while she was sick with fever.

"Something must have happened!"

"Calm down Shizu… we're not sure what happened yet. Let's wait for more details." Akado tried to calm Takakamo by rubbing her back.

"Toshi-sensei!" A tall girl was running towards them with tears around her eye.

"Eh? Toyone you're here!" Toshi immediately recognized her prodigy. She was surprised to see the girl since she didn't know that she was supposed to escort Saki here today.

"Eh? It's tall-san." It was Arata who said this. It's quite a rude nickname for some but it can't be helped since she hasn't known Toyone long enough to memorize her name. Besides, it's the girl's most defining factor.

"A-Anetai-san is Miyanaga-san with you?!" Shizuno was quick to ask the newcomer.

"That's the problem! I was supposed to escort her here but I lost her on the way! I tried looking for her but I can't find her anywhere!" Toyone was bawling out loud as she reported this to the people in front of her.

"What? I knew it! We have a big problem on our hands!"

A voice interrupted their conversation. It was a girl in a coat and a cap. That girl removed her coat like a cape and revealed her face. It was Hisa who was waiting there along with the crew for Saki and Teru.

"You're new so you don't know this but Saki has a special skill of getting lost." Hisa said this with much regret on her face. She asked herself why she didn't force that girl to buy a mobile phone.

"They're sisters after all then since Teru has that same special skill." This time it was another girl who was also in a coat until she threw it away like one of those people in the movies who tossed their disguises as they revealed themselves.

"… Are you gonna pick that up?" Hisa pointed at the coat which was lying on the ground waiting for people to step on it.

"A-Ah yeah, sorry I got caught up in the moment and… well I guess you understand." Sumire was blushing as she picked up the coat she just threw away.

"This city is huge however are we going to find them?!" Toyone was still in tears even after familiar faces appeared to help her.

"Maybe we can help." Yet another voice joined them. They turned to see who it was and found a woman with glasses with a camera man behind her.

"You are that reporter who follows Nodoka right?" Hisa recognized the face of the reporter but she wasn't familiar with her name at all.

"I'm Junko Nishida and I was supposed to do 'behind the scenes' of this movie. I know the ins and outs of this city since I've done much coverage here. If you can show me where you lost her then I'm sure with my help we can find her!" The reported looked confident with her tracking skills and so was the camera man behind her. This is no lie since she had to track down many people for her job, no matter how annoying those people thought about her.

* * *

Meanwhile, about the same time their friends got together, two people were still stuck in a shed with rain coming down outside.

"Did mom…" Saki wondered who cooked that bento. She imagined that it was their mother who cooked it since her mom was a really great cook.

"No, I cooked that."

Teru replied after she deciphered what Saki wanted to say.

"_Oneechan never cooked nor helped in cooking before when we were together. I bet she learned a lot from mom since these three years. I can't wait to taste it._"

Saki took the spoon offered to her by Teru and dug into the curry. She took it and raised it to her nose to enjoy its scent.

"Mmm… umaiii!"

Saki praised the delectable scent oozing from the curry. She pulled it closer to her nose for one more sniff.

"Umaiii!"

She said again before opening her mouth and finally putting the piece in.

"… Oh my!"

She screamed this in full English. Teru looked a little startled after hearing her little sister gasp. Saki noticed how Teru was eyeing her as if she was asking 'so how was it?' She had to say something so she forced herself to swallow what was already in her mouth.

"T-this is amazing!"

Saki cheered. However sweat was rolling down her cheeks as her hands trembled while holding the Tupperware.

"_T-this taste! It looks fresh and edible from the outside but what is this crispy and burnt taste that I get after I sink my teeth? Also, the taste of saltiness is overpowered by something sour and I can even taste sweet almonds. Oh oneechan how long exactly have you been cooking?_" Saki began turning pale as she imagined the ingredients that her sister mixed into making this.

"Well?" Teru asked as if she was waiting for something. She had an unmoving gaze directed at Saki who still had some crumbs of that omelet stuck in her throat.

"H-Hmm?" Saki wondered as she choked. She wanted to ask Teru for some water but that would mean that there's something wrong. She did not want to disappoint her sister as much as possible.

"I've already eaten so you can have all of that." Saki just heard what she feared Teru would say. Teru who was secretly very happy that Saki praised her food could not wait to watch her little sister finish her dish.

"B-But…" Saki was teary eyed as Teru narrowed her stare on Saki's face. She didn't want to, but she just reconciled with her sister, and she didn't want to get her mad or disappointed immediately after that.

"Didn't you say that you were hungry?" Teru asked with a look that says 'eat it or I'll feel terrible'. She even crawled next to Saki just to closely see her sister's reaction.

Saki's face was drenched with sweat at this moment. Never in her life did she think that she would die this way. The thought of putting another bite in her mouth deters her will to move any further but the thought of having her sister disheartened is such a strong push that her hands moved by themselves. She had two choices, either to take big chunks of the meal and swallow them as fast as possible, that way she'll only suffer for a few minutes, or take bit sized portions to minimize the damage to her pallet per chew which could take longer but probably more endurable.

"I- I am, I was just savoring the smell." At this point Saki wasn't lying. The smell was perfect compared to its horrible taste. Hesitantly she took the first option took her spoon and filled it to the brim before putting it into her mouth. Almost in an instant she felt her mouth protest and a sensation similar to paralysis.

Unbelievably, even though her tongue and pallet were already paralyzed she still managed to taste every single bite she was forced to take. Every time she chewed on whatever it was in that plastic box she imagined a different type of natural disaster: an out of control stampede of rhinos, a volcanic eruption, an earthquake followed by a relentless tsunami and a globally catastrophic meteor shower. After she finally finished everything she found herself looking up the ceiling while forcing herself not to vomit everything out. How could someone she adored so much cook so horrible?

Saki, herself, was very well versed in cooking. Since she chose to stay with her dad, who knew shit about cooking, she had to cook the dishes for the both of them everyday. Teru on the other hand had her mom to do it for her and since she's in the city lunch was a matter of giving money to a fast food restaurant employee. However, no matter how versed she was, she could not tell the ingredients Teru used to kill this dish.

"T- Thank you very much." Saki tried avoiding Teru's gaze as she returned the bento. There were still some left but she hoped that she already ate enough of the dish to satisfy Teru. She certainly wasn't hungry anymore… not after that. It was like her stomach got traumatized into submission that it won't accept anymore food for god knows how long.

Teru looked at her dish and felt glad that Saki ate almost all of it. She wondered how good it tasted. She imagined that it must've been delicious for Saki to finish them and that feverish look on her face was just blush because of how good it was.

Meanwhile, a door different from what they used to get into the abandoned storage house swung open surprising the two sisters. A girl appeared from the other side with a small shotgun in her hand. She had it aimed at the sisters who were shocked to see this girl who was wearing a maid costume.

* * *

AN: and that's that, keep the reviews coming!


	5. Chapter 5

**Love in Bloom  
**

* * *

**Disclaimer: If i do own Saki (which I don't) she'll have her own unlimited kan works =p  
**

PS: ANDDDDD here comes the updateeeeee

* * *

Three O'clock P.M., just as everything was going good a girl wearing a maid outfit appeared before the two sisters wielding a small shotgun. Despite the seriousness of the situation both Saki and Teru could not feel the fear they're supposed to feel while they were looking at the skimpy outfit the girl in front of them was wearing.

"_A battle maid? No, no, those things only happen in mangas._" Saki was trying to put bits and pieces of her experiences to find out how they should act in this situation. The maid in front of them had green twintails and was as tall as Teru. She looked slender and not the type who would suddenly burst out from places holding firearms.

"Who are you two and what are you doing here?" Asked the maid. Her voice sounded stern yet it was somehow high pitched. She didn't look like a high school student either.

"W-We're just students we're sorry! We just got stranded in the rain and we found this place we don't mean any harm!" Saki tried to explain their situation. Usually she would hide behind someone like Nodoka but for some reason she felt exceptionally confident this time.

"If you really don't mean any harm… then why is that person behind you carrying a rusted knife and looking at me like she wants to perform sev*nteen dissections like that guy from t*uk*hime?"

"Eh? O-Oneechan!" Saki was surprised to see her sister in a launching stance while holding a knife she found on the ground beside some other rusted kitchen utensils. Saki immediately hugged her sister's waist before she performed something both of them would regret.

"Sorry I was just nervous." After some struggle, Teru finally let go of the knife and bowed with Saki in apology.

The maid finally lowered her guard and sighed. It seems that even though she had a gun and looked brave she too was frightened with the situation they were.

"I- I understand. It's my fault too, I should've asked first but around here I learned to aim first before I ask questions."

The maid replied as Saki took a big sigh. The shotgun was finally down and that killing intent that filled the room was finally gone.

"Both of you are soaking wet, and you're probably hungry, why don't both of you come in?" The maid offered. As so it happened they took refuge in a storage house at the back of a café. Immediately as they stepped in from the backdoor they were met with three other people who appeared to be the caretakers and employees of the place. Other than the maid, there were two cooks and two other people dressed up as maids as well. There was only one man and he was one of the cooks.

"Oh so these two are the intruders?" The boy cook asked them. He was fairly young for someone who was working as a cook. To both of the sisters they placed him to be in the twenties.

"Oniisan don't scare them they were stranded in the rain." The maid who escorted them inside vouched for them.

"Fine, I'm sorry. First and foremost you better change your clothes. Even that jacket is soaked." The cook suggested.

"Actually I-…." Teru was about to say that she had some spare clothes in her bag for both her and her sister but she paused when she saw the maid bring in the outfits.

"Unfortunately we only have these maid costumes here. We don't live here you see." The girl in the maid outfit explained.

Teru gave the clothes a long hard look before turning to Saki.

"Thank you very much we accept your offer." She bowed down politely.

"Eh?" Saki wondered what that look her sister gave her a second ago meant.

Both of them were given two different maid costumes but both sported the same animeish theme. It appears that to hook in customers this café went with cute attires like those found in Akihabara.

"Come I'll help you dress up!" Teru dragged Saki to the employee's only comfort room where every worker there dressed up.

"W-Wait oneechan I think I can dress up alone!" She tried to protest but before she knew it she was already absorbed inside the room then it was locked.

"Okay let's start!"

"O-Oneechan I- I don't think that goes there….. kyahh!"

"Don't be silly I know what I'm doing."

"D-Don't rub that place…. nyahh!"

"Wait it's not deep enough. Loosen up will you? It's too tight!"

Meanwhile, outside the room, everyone who was lucky enough to hear it had their faces flustered while their imaginations ran wild.

"They did say they were sisters right?" The cook asked the maid.

"Y-Yes…" The maid nodded while doing her best not to mind the cute sounds coming from the comfort room.

Saki's maid outfit was a sleeveless shirt that had flowers over the two pieces of thin fabrics that hanged over her shoulders. Every side of the shirt had frilly design and the prevailing color that covered its sides, back and a few inches on the front was blue the middle part was left pure white which was the same color of its frills. The skirt was a miniskirt. It stretched up to five inches above her knee and that is an inch shorter than her usual miniskirt that she wore in school. Like the shirt it had frilly design and was blue dominated with some white. She wore long socks that covered the entire bottom part of her leg while her feet were covered with cute little brown shoes.

Miyanaga Teru was wearing a short sleeved shirt with a maid's apron above it that stretched to the edge of her miniskirt which was also five inches above her knee. The design of this maid outfit looked simpler as it lacked the frilly designs Saki had on hers, but it was still decorated with colorful embroideries. On her collar was a pink ribbon and her neck was closed tightly without revealing any skin. Unlike Saki, the socks she wore only extended a few inches past her feet and she wore black boots that fit her quite closely.

"H-How come oneechan's outfit is less revealing than mine?" Saki complained. While Teru's top revealed almost no skin, Saki's shoulders and the upper part of her chest can be seen.

"You look cute in it!" Teru sincerely praised her little sister.

"Saki come here." Teru beckoned for her sister as she took her wallet out of her pocket and as the obedient little sister, the younger Miyanaga nodded and approached her big sister.

Inside Teru's hands were two rubber bands which she handed to Saki. The younger sister was lost at first before she looked closer and realized something familiar.

"These are my old hair-rubber-bands!" Saki looked both mystified and overjoyed to see the two bands. She thought that she lost them forever when she misplaced them in her mom's home.

"I kept them safe for you this past three years. You'll have to wear these. You don't want the people in here to know who you are."

Teru said this with a big smile.

"When I said those cruel words in the interview I was never able to sleep peacefully again. Saki believe me when I say that there was not a dream where you were not in it. But I was scared. Scared that after all this time, you've given up on me." Teru embraced her little sister from behind after making sure the eye patch was completely intact.

"O-Oneechan…" Saki just blushed and smiled gently. She was happy to know that even when they were apart, her sister still thought about her. She sincerely thought Teru abandoned her already.

Teru placed the rubber-bands on her sister and even styled her hair properly that she resembled her old look when she was younger. Twin-tails were Saki's style then and now that she looks at herself in the mirror in that hairstyle with her sister she couldn't help but feel both happy and sentimental.

"You look better with a longer hair why did you cut them?" Teru wondered. She found it challenging to style Saki's hair to what it was before.

"Without my hair-rubber-bands I had to let it grow out and on the first day of high school a kid on the street stuck a piece of gum on them. It was harder to remove so I just had my hair cut." Saki explained. She remembered how a stubborn brat passing by played that trick on her while she was taking a nap under a tree.

Teru twisted her lips a bit. She felt like she wanted to find that child and make him feel pain that escalates every minute. But she can't deny that she liked Saki's looks with a short hair too so she let it go.

"Anyway Saki if we're going through such lengths to disguise ourselves we might as well use aliases don't you think?" Teru suggested as she finished styling her sister's hair. For her own disguise she took out a pair of big round glasses from her bag and wore them.

"I- I'm not sure I can think of good a good name." Saki scratched her cheek guilty of the fact that she sucked in making fictional names other than the ones she read in books.

"Why don't we just use our film's character's names?" Teru snapped her fingers.

"Naomi and Seiko?" Saki gasped. She thought that it was also a good idea.

"Yes with that we can hide our names and practice getting into our character as a practice for the filming." Teru nodded while she had her point finger up.

"A-Ah! About the filming what are we going to do? We're not only late, we're now extremely late!" Saki panicked. The director must be fuming by now. After the many times she worked with that man before (with commercials and such) she didn't want to disappoint him.

"We can't do anything about it. It's still raining hard. We can't search for the place in this condition." Teru replied. She looked like she also regretted the fact that they were late but if they weren't late then they wouldn't have had the chance they had to make up. In huge way she was glad they got lost.

After some finishing touches on their looks they finally took their first step outside the room. Teru was holding Saki's hand behind her to guide her out since the later was too shy. Outside the room, the café's staff was awed with how much their outfits fit the two sisters.

"Hoeh those clothes really fit you two!" The maid who held the shotgun before had her hands in a prayer gesture close to her chest as she tried to control herself.

"Thank you very much for your hospitality." Teru politely bowed before flashing her media smile.

"My name is Erica. I'm sorry again for before." The maid bowed back and apologized for that mishap awhile ago.

"Not at all, we were the one trespassing. It's nice to meet you."

"May I know your names?" Erica asked.

"I'm Seiko Mi-… Miyamoto." Teru did her best not to choke after she almost forgot not to say 'Miyanaga'.

"And I'm Naomi Miyamoto." Saki followed her sister's lead as she hesitantly pulled herself out of the comfort room.

"Y-You two, w-we're understaffed today and I know you're a guest and all b-but since you're not doing anything and…" The maid was struggling to speak her mind as she mumbled, stuttered and flinched in front of the two sisters.

Teru looked at Saki. She herself doesn't mind and in fact she had done such works before to promote their team when she was in first year. However, she wanted to know how Saki felt about it. Saki who knew what her sister's gaze meant nodded.

"I was asked to help once in a similar café so I'm okay… I think." Saki replied. The outfit she wore back then was extremely cute but this is more revealing and looked like something that came off an eroge.

"T-Thank you very much! We'll pay you once we're done we promise!"

The maid looked jubilant after receiving the 'okay' from the two sisters.

"Let me show you around!" Erica took Teru and Saki to the lobby and dining hall where they serve the customers their food.

To Teru's and Saki's surprise, that café was also a mahjong café. On the left side of the café were a long dining table and some six seaters where people could eat. On the right side of the café which was considerably bigger than the left were ten mahjong tables complete with four seats each. Besides those tables there was one table which was placed on top of a stage. Seven of the ten mahjong tables were occupied while the special table was empty.

"We play mahjong with our customers if they're lacking players. Do you two know how to play?" Erica asked excitedly.

Teru and Saki exchanged looks for a moment.

"Not that much." Teru replied humbly.

"M-Me too, I know how to play but I'm no good at it at all." Saki added. Hopefully all that acting they did in the previous sessions of filming paid off and the maid would believe them.

"That's fine. As long as the customers have someone to play with." The maid didn't seem to mind as long as the two sisters knew the yakus and the rules. Actually she thought that some customers might love that better since most of them want to play to relax and although many claim mahjong is fun, losing is not relaxing at all.

"What do we do oneechan?" Saki turned to her sister for answers. If she didn't want to stand out she certainly can't beat her opponent's to negative hell. They had to come up with a plan as they whispered closely to each other.

"Can you still play plus minus zero?" Teru asked her sister. Personally she disliked watching Saki take it easy on her opponents but this isn't exactly serious games. At this point, unless a pro comes in the café she won't hurt anyone's feelings using that condescending technique.

"Um!"

Saki nodded in response.

"How about you oneechan?" Saki can't remember a time when her sister demonstrated the same skill of scoring plus minus zero. She wondered what Teru would do in this situation.

"I'll hold back. I can do it. I've done it before for charity tournaments." Teru remembered the times when Shiraitodai would be asked to play in certain tournaments where the proceeds would go for a certain group of people in poverty.

At first when there were no empty slots to fill the two were praised by the customers as they delivered orders to the tables. Teru was very comfortable with the job and her 'media face' really fit the situation. Since she started taking orders three people have already tried to hit on her who she successfully fended away gently. Saki on the other hand wasn't too confident. When she served in Mako's café she mainly played with the customers and with someone she refers to as 'Katsudon-san' so she's still basically a newbie with service.

"H-Here's your order. P-Please enjoy." Saki said this as she placed an order of spicy risotto. The food looked very delicious but the three men sitting on the table for six had their attention Saki.

"Hwoah you're a new girl right? You're really very cute!" One of the men who looked like he was twenty-one years old sitting on that table looked mesmerized as she looked up at the shaking girl.

"I-I…" Saki's legs were about to cross together before Erica came to her aid. The cringing champion went behind the green haired maid like a chick to a mother hen.

"Please forgive this girl, she's new." Erica apologized then winked at the boy as she rubbed Saki's hair to comfort her.

"It's okay she's cute that way." The man smirked.

"Calm down Naomi-chan just smile at them and ask them for what they want. If they compliment you just say thank you. Your big sis is doing great look." Erica gave the girl some tips that she hoped the girl would follow and pointed at Teru who looked like she was having fun serving customers.

"H-Hnn…!" Saki nodded. She was still very unsure of what to do but seeing her sister perform encouraged her to do well.

A few seconds after that three customers came in and sat on a table. They were lacking one person for a legitimate four player mahjong match.

"Erica we need a player can you play with us for awhile?" The customer seemed to be a regular in the café.

Unfortunately Erica and the two other regular maids were busy with orders. Erica had three customers to serve while the other two had to go to replenish the stock.

"Sorry my hands are currently full but-…."

Erica noticed Saki who was only waiting for more orders.

"Naomi-chan do you think you can play with them?" Erica asked her temporary helper a favor.

Saki walked to the table and bowed to her new customers.

"L-Let's have fun playing." She said this politely before taking her seat.

"Oh you're a young one aren't you?" The men who came in were quite aged. They looked like they were already in their forties except for one who looked like he was in his mid twenties. Saki just faked a laugh to respond to the man's comment.

"You look a bit familiar, were you in the prefectural? Or maybe the nationals?" The man who looked youngest asked. Saki let out a little yelp after hearing this.

"N-No, I'm not good enough to be in one of those." Saki lied. Teru was looking behind her worriedly and hoped that her twin-tails hair style was enough to hide her identity.

"_Should I have given her glasses too?_" Teru wondered.

* * *

Four o'clock P.M. and it's still raining hard. At this point the film crew knew that they will have to move the filming. However what's extremely important right now is that they find the two stars of their show. They've joined together with the stars' friends and the reporter that claimed to know the neighborhood more than anyone.

"So this is where you say you were last with her?" Junko asked the tall girl behind her. The place was a few corners away from the meeting place. The tall girl was holding an umbrella for the both of them. There were many other people behind them. They were Shizuno, Arata, Akado, Toshi, Hisa, Sumire and three men who director sent to help them.

"Yes."

Toyone replied with a somewhat apologetic and sad face.

"I focused too much on getting there on time that I lost her. I'm sorry it's my fault!" Toyone still feels really guilty about this whole mess.

"It's not your fault Toyone. Saki's really just like that and we failed to tell you." Hisa comforted her member and rubbed her shoulder. Deep inside she wished that in between her rendezvous with Sumire she could've explained everything to Toyone knowing that she was to accompany Saki.

"This is dangerous but, does everybody here know how to go back to the meeting place? Because from here I think it's best to split apart to look for her because from what I see she could've chosen from routes." Junko turned to the people behind her.

"I'll go with these two." Akado volunteered and took Shizuno and Arata with her.

"Toyone and I will go." Toshi decided to take her prodigy with her for the search.

"We have a feeling that the two of our aces are not too far away so we'll go together." Hisa took Sumire's hand and volunteered for the two of them.

"Just tell us where to go!" The three crewmen grouped up.

"I will go with my friend here then. Anyway what we have to remember is that the time between Saki's disappearance and this torrential downpour isn't too long."

"Ah! So that means she could still be near and taking shelter from one of the buildings near here." Arata more or less figured what the journalist was trying to say.

Junko pointed at the camera man she always takes with er. She took out a map of that region of Shiga prefecture. Then she encircled key points where she believed Saki could be and even traced walking routes that the champion could've taken.

"Everyone if you will please take each other's mobile number! That way we can update each other and also get in touch if anyone of us needs help. Now please take a route you want to investigate, then after an hour let's meet here." Junko raised her hand phone after finishing her explanation. It took them about five minutes to get everyone's numbers and before they started.

Akado's group was the first one to take a route and start. This was mainly because of the hyperactive Shizuno who was bent on finding Saki.

"Shizu it's better to carefully look for her slowly rather than rushing like that." Harue Akado and Arata could barely keep up with the girl in jersey. It was a good thing that each of them had an umbrella or that energetic girl would be soaking wet by now.

"But Miyanaga-san might be in trouble somewhere!" Shizuno turned to her coach and teammate. She had this sad frown while her legs jogged in place.

"Even if that's true rushing will only decrease our chances of finding her." Akado replied

"You don't understand! Miyanaga-san gets sick easily because of the fatigue of all the work she's doing! We need to find her fast!" Shizu replied while trashing her arms about in rush.

"Shizuno… calm down…" said Arata.

"How can I calm down when Miyanaga-san could be dying of fever somewhere?!" Shizu shouted for the first time at her teammate.

"S-Shizu…"

"I- I'm sorry." Takakamo realized what she just did. She didn't mean to take her frustration on Arata but something inside her is pushing her to panic.

"_This girl… she's more terrified right now than the night before the championships._ Shizuno…"

Their coach approached the girl in jersey and stood beside her.

"We'll find her I promise!" Akado winked and clenched her hand in a fist like how she would every time they started a round in the tournament.

"Y-Yes!" Shizuno shouted with full spirit and nodded.

"Okay so which shop will we check first? I bet she's here in this noodle shop."

* * *

Four thirty in the afternoon Saki is still playing mahjong with the three men. This is the third game since they started. The first games scores were plus twenty-three for the old man in green shirt, plus two for the old man wearing a brown jacket, minus twenty-five for the man in his mid twenties and plus minus zero for Saki. The second game's scores were plus thirty-one for the old man in green, minus twelve for the guy in jacket, minus nineteen for the guy in his twenties and plus minus zero for Saki.

"I- I guess this is Tsumo for me. One thousand all." Saki revealed a small hand that ended the third game right there.

"Yes I'm first place again!" The old man in green cheered.

"Y-You're really amazing sir." Saki scored plus and minus zero again.

Meanwhile Teru was also playing her share of games in a different table. However, unlike Saki she allowed herself to win some games without completely dominating her opponents.

"Ron." Teru declared as she took the one of circles for the win scoring a dealer baiman. The final score of that game was plus thirty four for Teru while the second place was at plus five.

"You've won three out of five games Seiko-san! You're quite good." One of the men playing with Teru looked amazed.

"I guess I'm lucky today!" Teru replied with full cheerfulness.

"_O-Oneechan…_"

Saki felt weird watching her sister act like this.

"_Everything's going well unless a professional player comes in we're safe._" Saki had an optimistic smile on her face. The three men she was playing with decided to have a few minutes break.

"I didn't know there was a mahjong café here!" The door swung open before four other people simultaneously entered the room. A woman with red eyes and purple hair led them as they entered.

"Awawawa!" Saki shrieked after seeing the face of the person that destroyed her and Nodoka back when she was still a fledging before the nationals.

"Hoeh! T-That's Yasuko Fujita!" Erica squealed. She squirmed behind Saki hesitating whether she should ask the pro to sign her mahjong magazine or not.

"Y-You know her Erica-san?" Saki wondered if the pro was a frequent visitor in this café as much as she was in Mako's café.

"Not personally of course! But she's one of my idols! D-Did you know that her nickname is the 'reversal queen'? It's because she turn things around in the last hand that's why she's usually placed as the team captain!" Erica replied excitedly.

"S-She must be the best then."

"No. There's one more player who's better! The player I'm talking about can turn a low two thousand point hand into a twenty-two thousand point hand in one turn!"

"Eh?" Saki's finger was on her lips. She wondered what kind of monster can do such a thing.

"Order please!" Fujita called for a waiter. It was Erica who excitedly responded to the pro's call.

"W-What would you want to order?" The maid gave the pro a five paged list of their specialties.

"Hmm…" The pro skimmed through the list for what looked appetizing.

"I'll have some beef wellington." A girl who looks to be as shy as Saki was said. She had long bluish purple hair and had a hairstyle that doesn't cover her forehead too much.

"You'll get fat Kokaji-pro." A girl who's known as Kouko Fukuyo interrupted.

"E-Eh?! T-Then I'll just have fried catfish and some fries." The professional player immediately changed her order after taking to account her friend's advice and her cheeks were as red as fried lobster.

"I'll have some beef wellington then." Fukuyo finalized her order.

"Wait didn't you just discouraged me from ordering that?!" Kokaji protested after hearing her friend order the same thing she wanted to order seconds ago.

"It's fine for me because I exercise a lot." The announcer said this with confidence.

"I- I exercise a lot too! I'll have beef wellington too please!" The mahjong player reverted her order to what it was.

"_Those two are the announcers that commentated on my individual matches_." Saki gulped down a large portion of her own saliva as she remembered the two taking over the announcer spots when she watched her own games replayed.

"This place is nice and cozy we should stay here until the rain stops!" A girl with short golden hair looked satisfied with the place as she sat down and examined the menu the maid has given them.

"I'll have tempura with pumpkin shrimp fried rice, a spicy salmon roll oh and two pieces of Hamachi Nigiri." A girl with light brown hair happily ordered her choice of gourmet food. This girl was the sole girl wearing a kimono which was weirdly dry after going through all that rain.

"That's too much Uta." The golden haired girl tried to convince her friend to change her order.

"Aww Eri, are you worried about your partner getting fat?" Uta Mihirogi teased her friend Eri Hariu and remained steadfast with what she wanted.

"Suit yourself, as for me I'll just have fried lobsters with garlic rice." Eri gave up. She knew that when Uta is like this there's no challenging her decisions.

"_Those two are announcers as well. What are we going to do oneechan?_" Saki felt the pressure rise as more people who knew her sat on that single dining table for six.

After a few more minutes of nitpicking, that group finally finished deciding on what they wanted and Erica gladly took their orders to the kitchen. Saki now proceeded to taking other tables' orders since the customers she was playing with were still eating. Teru still had her hands full with more customers challenging her in her table. Saki only wished that they didn't catch the attention of the announcers and the professionals.

"Oh look there are some empty tables! Let's play some mahjong!" Fujita looked to be in high spirits as she sat on a mahjong table.

"Shall we play together then?!" The hyperactive professional player named Uta Mihirogi joined Fujita and sat on the opposite side of the other pro.

"Aren't you playing with them Kokaji-pro?" Fukuyo asked her professional friend who was given her appetizer, salad, if she wanted to play with the two other professionals.

"I want to finish this first." Kokaji replied. She looked like she was really enjoying her appetizer and she wants to savor it.

"Then we need two more." Fujita looked around for some possible players.

"I- I"

Erica who just came back from the kitchen approached the table with her hands together below her waist. She looked like a little girl who was just about to meet Santa Claus in one of those stores where fraud fat men dressed up in red to attract children on their lap and listen to their wishes.

"I- I can be your third player if it's okay." Erica said this hesitantly. She was scared that the pro would say no and that would embarrass her.

"Sure why not! Now we only need a fourth." Fujita looked ready to wait for a fourth even if it took hours.

"R-Really?!"

Erica ran beside Saki and clung around her left hand. At this point Saki's face was covered with dark shade of despair as everything she hoped was crushed in an instant.

"P-Please play with us Naomi-chan this is my chance to play with Fujita-san and even with Mihirogi-san!" Erica looked at Saki with begging eyes that says 'pleaseeee'.

"Well I…"

Saki turned to Teru for directions. Teru who was on her final game with her customers nodded in response.

"Okay." Finally she allowed Erica to drag her to the table where she sat down.

"Let's play!" Cheered Mihirogi.

The first game saw Saki playing east. Fujita took the south position, Erica was at west and Mihirogi was at north. As rules go, it was Saki's turn to start the match.

The four of bamboos, that was her first discard. She observed the three players in front of her. Erica looked nervous and both the two pros looked serious even though it's only a casual match. She deduced that it's probably because the two pros were playing against each other that's why they're serious.

Fujita threw out the one of bamboos before throwing a grin at the girl opposite of her. At that point Saki felt her intuition to be correct, that the two were going to go serious against each other.

Erica drew her tile and Saki noticed that the girl was shaking. She thought that a café as large as this the staff should be used to be dealing with pros already but apparently she was wrong. Even when she discarded her tile she couldn't place that discarded tile neatly in front of her and she had to apologize for putting it in such an unsightly manner.

After Mihirogi drew she placed the tile near her lips while sheepishly looking at Fujita. Saki remembered how this girl commentated and she can truly see this happening.

"Riichi!" Declared the pro as she discarded the two of bamboos and placed it on the discard pile horizontally.

"_Riichi on the first turn? Amazing, a little more and she could've scored an Earthly Hand yakuman._" Saki felt amazed to see someone acquire tempai in their first draw. It's not like she hadn't done this before herself but to see a pro achieving it in a match, even if it's not an official match, is something different. She drew a tile this turn and threw the six of circles.

"Turn one tempai? No wonder you're vanguard." Fujita grinned once again. The girl in front of her is known for scoring golden hands in professional world competitions. She valued Mihirogi's hand to be somewhere between a baiman and a yakuman (sanbaiman is between those two limit hands). To escape an embarrassing second turn defeat, Fujita decided to back out and threw away the safe four of bamboos.

"_I-Is this pro-style mahjong? I-I can't keep up at all._" Erica was feeling the tension coming from the horizontal tile Mihirogi placed on the discard pile. After drawing, she placed the tile she drew on the pile, it was the also the wrong tile to discard.

"Ron!"

Mihirogi shocked Erica as she revealed her hand. The poor maid yelped in surprise.

"Ippatsu, Riichi, Pinfu, iki tsuu Kan, Chiinitsu and one Dora! That's a Sanbaiman! That will be twenty-four thousand!"

"Eep!" Erica was devastated. This is not a team tournament so she only had twenty-five thousand points and just now twenty-four thousand was taken from her instantly. She shook in her shoes and almost felt like she was going to pee after that attack.

"_I can't blame Erica-san. This is only turn two and there were not much information to deal with. She couldn't have known what to discard._" Saki was glad that it wasn't her that got hit. She might be purposely losing to them but she still didn't want to be in that situation.

Fujita was the next person to hold the position of east. She drew and threw the nine of circles. She looked more serious now because her friend just showed her up. She felt as if Mihirogi was taunting her with that last big hand. As the reversal queen she can, no, she has to be able to reverse the situation. However the blow that was dealt to Erica was not only felt by one player but by all the players on the table. Now, no one except Mihirogi can afford to play Tsumo that's larger than one thousand or the game ends there.

The still shocked Erica threw the eight of circles. She thought that since it was so close to the nine of circles that was free then it was safe. Though that's true, this way of thinking when it's still very early in the hand meant that the last blow really traumatized her.

For Mihirogi's turn, the pro who was now miles ahead of everyone else drew a tile and once again looked at Fujita sheepishly.

"Riichi!" Once again the professional discarded a tile in horizontal position but to her surprise that tile disappeared from her sight.

"Pon." Saki said this calmly as she claimed the red dragon in her three of a kind.

"Another tempai this early in the round?" Fujita gritted her teeth. She felt horrible that they were being dominated by the all japan Vanguard.

Because of Saki's pon the drawing order was changed and it was now Fujita's turn to draw. She discarded green dragon which was quickly claimed by Saki.

"Pon!" Saki has now two sets of dragons on the board. That pon forced the two other players to skip their turns and it's now Fujita's turn again.

Now that there are two sets of dragons on the board everybody except Erica and Saki were on the edge of their seats. Saki because she couldn't care less about winning this game and Erica because she was still devastated about that twenty-four thousand punishment she took from Mihirogi.

Fujita discarded a nine of circles and ended her turn. She knew that a white dragon is something she cannot afford to discard if she had it.

Erica drew the five of sticks and almost immediately, with her shaking hand she discarded the one of circles and declared riichi.

"R-Riichi!" She hesitantly declared.

When Mihirogi's turn came she was forced to discard the one of bamboo because her riichi could not allow her to change her wait. That one of bamboo was a fatal discard.

"R-Ron!"

Erica revealed her hands and everybody was astonished except Saki.

"Riichi, Ii pei kou, Chiinitsu and Ippatsu. T-That's a Baiman and that will be sixteen thousand please." She felt relieved that she got back some of what she lost earlier and felt happy that she scored against a professional.

"Ow, ouchy…" Mihirogi weirdly pretended to hurt after that hit.

"_That baiman was impressive but… what is this I feel? It feels as if it was orchestrated by someone else._" Fujita narrowed her eyes on the girl with twin-tails beside her.

After that, the game continued but with Erica now feeling more confident. The next hand was ended in the third turn by Saki who scored a non-dealer baiman tsumo worth twelve thousand and forced each of the other players to pay four thousand points.

After the hanchan the scores were Mihirogi plus thirty four, Fujita plus seven, Saki plus minus zero and Erica who was at negative fourteen. Fujita managed to come back in the match thanks to a non-dealer sanbaiman after a couple of loses from Mihirogi but even with that she had to settle for second place.

"Let's rest for fifteen minutes before we play again kay?" Mihirogi cheerfully asked the other players in front of her. It was a good choice because the food they ordered just arrived.

"I- I'm going to the comfort room." Saki felt rather pressured and decided that she had to go for a bit.

In the washroom she met Erica who was washing her face.

"Naomi-san how do you do it?" Erica asked before Saki could enter the toilet.

"Hmm?" Saki wondered what Erica meant.

"How do you play so calmly against them?" The maid wondered. All throughout the match she didn't see Saki flinch or bat an eyelash at the professional's dominating attacks.

"W-Well, it's because there's nothing at risk right?" Saki lied. In truth it's because she's already used to the pressure players of similar level emit while they play. Although she does feel some pressure, it's not from the players themselves but from the fact that she needed to keep her identity.

"I wonder if that girl felt the same pressure fighting against these kinds of people."

Erica had a distant look on her face. She imagined the face of her most admired player playing against such strong monsters.

"Remember when I told you that I think there's someone better?" Erica looked excited once again.

"Y-Yes." Saki remembered her short talk with Erica a couple of minutes ago when the professional players arrived.

"The person I'm talking about is a person a lot more exciting to watch. Every time she says the word 'kan' I get the tingles!"

Erica shook her body as if someone was showering her with ice and cold water.

"I call her the Rinshan Princess and she's the reason I find mahjong so much exciting nowadays." Erica looked like someone who just ate the tastiest thing in her life.

"R-Rinshan Princess?" Saki was in wonder who would have such a beautiful title. She imagined it to be a pro of Fujita's or Mihirogi's caliber or even greater.

"Yes! Because that's her trademark move! And her name is…" Erica paused for a bit as if to put emphasis.

"Is?" Saki could not wait to know who this person was.

"Is Miyanaga Saki!" Erica said this with sweet and proud intonation.

"Oh… It's mi… M- Me!?" Saki was shocked to find out that she was Erica's most admired player. She felt tensed and she could swear that she felt Goosebumps after hearing that.

"What do you mean you Naomi-chan? I said Miyanaga Saki." Erica thought that Saki was silly for saying that.

"Ahaha I- I meant m-me too." Saki lied. On one hand she felt happy to know that someone really admires her but on the other hand she felt disappointed that a fan could not recognize her with her hair in twin-tails.

Meanwhile in the dining room one player felt disturbed. She did end up in second place and while it's an achievement for playing against the All Japan Vanguard she couldn't help but wonder that someone placed her there. That someone allowed her to get there.

"Mihirogi, did you notice something about that girl?" Fujita turned to the girl beside her who was taking in a lot of the tempura she ordered.

"What? Erica-chan? She's good, she did score that baiman, even though that's the only hand she won." Mihirogi replied. She tried t remember if there were other amazing moments that Erica played but she couldn't find any.

"No, not her, I mean the other one." Fujita replied and pointed at the twin-tailed maid who just got out of the comfort room.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Mihirogi was now beginning to talk with her mouth full.

"Eat everything first!" Eri chastised her professional partner who was beginning to choke on her food.

"Hmm… come to think of it she looks familiar." She stared at the sleeveless maid until that girl got pulled to the back of the kitchen by another maid who hand pink hair and was wearing big glasses.

In the back of the kitchen Teru pulled Saki where nobody could see or hear them.

"Do you think they noticed?" Teru asked Saki with a serious look.

Saki waved her head in a 'no' gesture.

"I've met with katsudon-san for a few times and if she recognized me she'd tell me immediately." Saki replied. She never got to calling Fujita with her real name and kept calling the professional 'katsudon-san' since she ordered consecutive portions of katsudon from Mako's café.

After eating the two professionals decided that they wanted to resume the game. Saki and Erica promptly responded to the two and took their seats. However this time another professional went to them.

"We're going to play too." Kokaji and the two announcers decided to play with each other to have some fun and to pass time.

"We need one more player do you think there's someone free to be our fourth?" This was asked by Kouko Fukuyo and the question was directed at Erica.

"A-Ah."

Erica immediately stood up and looked around for someone free. Near the kitchen she saw Teru who just finished playing with her customers who had enough for the day and decided to go home.

"Seiko-san can you play with our customers here for awhile?" Erica requested. She hoped that Teru would give her a nod or a yes because she really didn't want to disappoint any of the pros.

"Ah… Sure!" Teru flashed her smile and acted cheerful as she took her seat. Coincidentally the seat she took was directly behind Saki's seat. The two sisters are now sitting back to back each other. Erica was happy that all the seats were filled in.

"F-Fujita-san… m-may I ask why you're in Shiga prefecture?" Erica hesitated to ask at first but she really wanted to know the reason.

"Ah, well that's because I was elected as an official for the coming tournament in two months. I had to take care of some documents." Fujita replied.

"I'm going to be an announcer." Mihirogi interrupted and said this cheerfully while using both her point fingers to point at herself.

"Isn't that the tournament to select people to join in the World Team Competition?" Erica wondered. She heard news about it but she never heard anything official. She would be glad to hear it directly from a professional who would officiate the event.

"Exactly." Fujita nodded.

"W-Will Miyanaga Saki play?" Erica asked in a way that she said Saki's name so fast because of her excitement.

On the mention of her name Saki almost choked. She could only hope that this won't bring attention towards her.

"No because as the individual champion she's already seeded for the world competition." Fujita replied.

"Aww that's too bad." Erica felt sad that she wouldn't be able to see her idol play and lowered her head.

"Is Miyanaga Saki your favorite?" An announcer from the opposite table asked the maid. It was no other than Kokaji's friend Fukuyo.

Erica turned to that table and nodded.

"Yes! I think she's the most amazing player in the world!" Erica replied.

"What about Miyanaga Teru?" The announcer Eri asked. It's not like her to pry but she wanted to know the opinion of the common folk about these matters rather than just them who watch the game from the announcer's room.

Teru's heart almost skipped a bit on the mention of her name. Unlike Saki her disguise relied on her glasses and a little change of hairstyle. She hoped that this topic wouldn't bust her because that would suck a lot.

"I think Teru-san is great too but I find Saki-san the most exciting of all! Every time she says kan me and my friends stand and cheer even before she declares her win by Rinshan Kaihou." Erica continued to tell her opinion of the two great high school players while the disguised Saki was already blushing bright red.

"They're great in mahjong and all but don't you think they're too flat?" This question was made by a careless announcer who calls herself Kouko Fukuyo. This caused the hands of two people to tighten into fists.

"K-Kouko-chan that's not something you should say!" Kokaji tried to chastise her friend. She was blushing embarrassed about the actions of her partner.

"I- I don't look at such physical features!" Erica at this point was also blushing. The topic was something so random that she wasn't prepared to say anything.

"Yeah but I just can't help it, I mean Miyanaga Saki is good but compared to Nodoka Haramura she's like a chopping board. I thought the public would like a champion plumper." Kouko added to the careless words she threw before. The face of the pink haired girl in front of her was already lowered and covered in the shade of anger as she heard the name of her sister used with disrespect.

"It's not the first time. Miyanaga Teru the past years barely had anything on her either. In fact I think she's just as flat today as she was the first time she claimed the championships." Another hyperactive announcer shared her thoughts. This time it was the girl beside her whose face began to shroud in darkness.

"Does it matter? I don't believe that being flat as a road overrun by a million trucks should matter. People will like you if you play good and exciting. That's showmanship." Fujita decided to join in the conversation without knowing that her words were the final trigger to awaken two sleeping monsters.

At the instant Fujita finished her sentence everybody in the room including normal diners felt an extremely powerful killing intent emanating from the mahjong tables the professionals were. The two sisters who were sitting back to back in different tables were virtually shrouded with dark and menacing auras.

"T-This feeling!" Fujita gasped, stood up and moved back as she was surprised by the sudden burst of intimidation coming from the girl beside her.

"K-Kyahh!" The announcer Fukuyo who was sitting directly in front of the angered older sister almost fell off her seat as she felt a whirlwind of animosity pass through her.

"Oneechan…" Saki said this in a whisper to her sister who was sitting and leaning behind her.

"Yes… no mercy." Teru said this almost in a command. She would not forgive anyone who insults her cute sister in the same way that Saki would not allow mockeries aimed to her cool oneechan.

"E- Ehe… I think we're in trouble." Mihirogi who was arguably the second most experienced professional in the room (the first being Kokaji) had her lips twitching as she imagined funeral flowers to bloom around her.

"Y-Yeah… w-we talked too much." Kokaji who was the most accomplished professional there, though innocent, could see a ripper riding a whirlwind emanating from the glasses girl beside her.

Five thirty in the afternoon the groups working hard searching for the two sisters have still yet to get lucky. Right now Shizuno, the coach and Arata are inside a bowling alley checking for leads that might help them find Saki.

"I don't think she went in here." Arata looked around and found no trace of a mahjong player there.

"But this is the last place in this area we haven't checked. She has to be here." Shizuno was insistent despite the obvious clues that Saki wasn't there.

"Excuse me sir have you seen a girl here with short brown hair and probably wearing a white uniform." Akado approached the guy in the counter. She described Saki as Toyone told her from when before they started the search.

"Those were very detailed descriptions ma'am, but after working here I've seen many short haired girls come and go. Do you have a picture or something?" The guy asked.

"Here! This is her!" Shizuno found a 'Mahjong Weekly' magazine sitting on a glass table where people wait and relax. On the cover of the magazine was Saki holding the one of bamboos while posing a peace sign and smiling at the camera.

"Ah! Y-You're looking for Miyanaga Saki? Impossible, I wouldn't miss her if she came here. I'm a big fan! Is she in town?"

The guy looked excited. No wonder all the magazines in that corner were filled with so many mahjong magazines.

"Come to think of it you two look familiar…"

The man took his time thinking where he saw the two high schoolers before. Then he gasped 'ah' and pointed at the girl in jersey.

"You're one of the finalists who faced Miyanaga Saki in the championships and you're that girl who fought Nodoka Haramura!" The man looked happy to remember.

"Y-Yes… sorry sir where currently in a hurry our friend is missing. Do you have any idea where she could've gone?" Shizuno didn't have time to chat to a possible fan and immediately went back to her business.

"Well… there's a mahjong café not too far from here. Have you tried there?" The man replied.

"Mahjong café? We didn't come across one on the way here." The three girls looked at each other asking themselves if they saw something that looked like a café.

"Well do you have a map? I can locate you there." The man asked and Harue Akado gladly handed him a map. The man encircled the location of the mahjong café.

"This place isn't in any of the routes Junko-san laid for us. It's worth a look but we better meet up with the others first." Harue took out her phone and started emailing everyone included in the search.

Six o'clock P.M. in the café the first game of both groups has reached its seventh turn and some players have reached tempai. Saki was in the south position in her group and so was Teru.

It was Fujita's turn to draw. After drawing her tile she looked at her opponent sitting beside her. The threatening aura was no longer there but she swore that she felt that she felt a glimpse of that before. She threw away the one of circles.

"What's your name again? Naomi?" Fujita asked. The girl slowly turned her head like one of those dolls in horror movies.

"Yes." Saki answered with her eyes wide open.

"_I think she's mad._"

Sweat rolled down Fujita's cheek as the girl turned away from her and concentrated back on her game.

"_Anyway this is weird. Me, Mihirogi and that other maid have tempai for four turns now. And yet none of us have scored a hand. It feels as if there's a big wall hindering us. Is this similar to Koromo's ability?_" The only comparison she could make was with Amae Koromo who had the ability to control the flow into such a state that nobody except her can get into tempai. This was different, they were all in tempai except that girl and yet why do they feel that they will lose this hand?

"Naomi-chan are you mad?" Erica noticed the change in Saki's behavior.

"No I'm not." Saki smiled with such an angelic face at Erica before waving her head in a no gesture.

"_So she's only angry at me?!_" Fujita twitched on her seat.

Erica threw away the nine of bamboos. She was also in riichi so she couldn't change her wait.

Now was Mihirogi's turn. She drew her tile and threw it away immediately for she too was in riichi. She now regrets that move and felt that she was being choked by somebody who was orchestrating her every move.

"_I see what Fujita meant now. These girls' pons are changing the order of the draws to her desire. Now that the three of us are in riichi we're sitting ducks._" For the first time today Mihirogi frowned.

It was now Saki's turn. Upon taking the tile, she didn't even look at it before slamming it on the bottom side of the board.

"Tsumo, san shoku Toitoi! That's seventy Fu and four Han! That will be four thousand once and two thousand twice." Saki surprised everyone by exploding in the first game.

Meanwhile in Teru's table Kokaji pro could not help but steal glances over the next table where Saki just scored.

"_That girl is doing good._"

She thought.

"_But it's not just her. I don't know why but I feel something from this maid beside me._" Kokaji watched Teru draw her tile.

"Tsumo."

Like Saki, Teru slammed her tile on the board as she declared her win.

"Only Tanyao, that will be five hundred once and three hundred twice." Teru's hand was a small hand even if they only had twenty-five thousand points.

Back to Saki's table Saki was in east position and a few turns have already passed. It was already Mihirogi's turn and this time she wasn't stuck with riichi. Instead she was in hidden tempai where she didn't want the people in the game to know that she was already one tile away from winning. In her dismay she drew the north wind tile which wasn't the tile she needed. She discarded it immediately after deeming the tile safe.

"Kan!"

Everybody gasped as the girl claimed the north wind in her set of four. Then that girl grabbed a tile from the dead wall and to their surprise:

"Kan!"

The girl declared her second kan in a row and it was a set of the two of bamboos for apparently she drew the tile she needed to complete that second quad. This time the girl everyone knew to be Naomi drew the four of circles but once again she didn't even look at it and slammed it on the board.

"Tsumo! Toitoi, San'ankou and with Rinshan Kaihou makes it a mangan. With the rule 'the one responsible pays' that will be twelve thousand Mihirogi-san." Normally a mangan won't be as high as twelve thousand but with Saki as the dealer it stretched to that much.

"Rinshan Kaihou?" Fujita had a weird grin on her face. The yaku the girl, Naomi, used was a rare Yaku that only one person has specialized in and to see it happen there brings doubt to her mind.

"I-It's just like Miyanaga Saki's!" Erica's smile was so wide to see someone use Rinshan Kaihou.

"Ehe…"

Saki scratched the back of her head to act clueless.

"I was lucky." She said this to Erica and covered her identity.

On the other table, two hands have already passed since Teru's 'Tanyao' win and since then she's won two more hands. The hand she won directly after her first win scored a tsumo worth four twice and eight hundred once and her next hand scored two thousand once and one thousand twice. And on this hand…

"Ron!"

She declared right after Eri discarded the three of characters. Eri gasped and even caused her chair to slide back in surprise.

"Chii toi tsu and two doras!" She revealed her seven pairs. The value of the hand was six thousand and four hundred.

"N-Not again, you just keep on winning Seiko-san." Eri was astonished that Kokaji wasn't the person dominating the match. Instead some megane maid is slowly dismantling them and amongst everybody, Eri was the most in danger after that direct hit.

Back on Saki's table another kan erupted from Saki.

"Tsumo! Toitoi, San'ankou, San'katsu, four doras, Rinshan Kaihou. Eight thousand all please!" Saki scored with a sanbaiman.

The score in that table right now is: Saki at seventy-two thousand (counting the three one thousand point riichi sticks the other three placed in the first game), Mihirogi at exactly zero (four thousand plus twelve thousand plus eight thousand plus the one thousand point riichi stick she threw in the first game), Fujita and Erica at Fourteen thousand. The game now has come to a point where the other competitors cannot declare tsumo.

"Ahaha I'm in a pinch!" Mihirogi laughed while flailing her hands in her kimono.

"You're still happy being in zero?!" Fujita tried to criticize her fellow professional.

"I can't help it! This never happened to me before even in world events!" Mihirogi turned to her peer while still casually flailing.

"Y-You're amazing Naomi-san!" Erica was ecstatic to see the trademark moves of her idol used in front of her. At first she felt a little insulted that someone else was using Saki's moves but for some reason she can't help but feel delighted to see Naomi use it.

"Ehe..." Saki just laughed and turned her gaze away.

Turning her gaze allowed Erica to view her temporary helper side ways where the other twin-tail was hidden. Then she noticed something peculiar. She saw a magazine beside Saki which was on top of a side table which displayed Miyanaga Saki's picture sideways.

"_N-Naomi-san and Miyanaga-san look alike. Wait… can it be?" _The maid slowly reached the band tying one side of Saki's hair. Then while the girl wasn't looking, she undid it carefully yet swiftly.

"U-Uwah!" Saki gasped as one band fell from her head. Then as she turned, she felt a hand pass the other side of her head and felt her other band fall off.

Erica stood up and moved back as the absence of the bands revealed the identity of the girl who has been playing with her for some games now. She raised her hands and covered her mouth as droplets of tears formed around her eyes.

"I knew it! There's no other person who can play such sweet music on the board." Fujita grinned as her suspicions were finally answered.

* * *

Seven o'clock pm, the rain has receded and this made looking for Saki easier for the search party. They've already met up where they started and now they're making they're way to the mahjong café encircled on the map.

"I know that café, it's quite popular around here but sometimes they're understaffed." Junko started talking about the café. She felt easier now that they didn't have to hold umbrellas.

"That's our last lead. I hope she's there." Harue Akado sighed. It has been hours now and to be frank, she's becoming frustrated with this and it doesn't help that she's now hungry.

"She has to be!" Toyone and Shizuno said this at the same time. Toyone whose guilt pushed her to work further and Shizuno who can't help but be worried looked anxious.

"For some reason I have a feeling that will find the other one there too." Hisa had a distant smile on her face.

"Now that's just being too optimistic." Sumire wanted to think that way but she can't help but think that it won't be that easy.

It didn't take long before the group started to jog instead of walk. They kept on going until they noticed that the crowd walking around them was becoming thicker. It was as if people were going to the same place they were.

"Hey did you hear?! Two maids in the café are playing equally with some pros!" One bystander excitedly asked an acquaintance near him.

"You mean Erica and that Asami? I can't believe they're already that good." That acquaintance replied with a skeptical face.

"No man I'm talking about the maids Naomi and Seiko."

"Ha? No really?"

"I'm telling you they're nuts man!"

After listening to the conversation of the two friends, two other people are stunned. Hisa and Sumire stopped running for awhile and caught the attention of their group.

"What's wrong you too?" Harue Akado noticed Hisa and Sumire.

"We've got them! We're now sure that they're there!" Hisa energetically pumped her fist and began running again.

"Eh? What makes you so sure now?" Harue wondered.

"It's because Naomi and Seiko are the film character names for Saki and Teru." Sumire replied for Hisa.

"E-Eh?! In that case let's hurry!" Shizuno felt fired up after hearing that information. More than that, if Saki and Teru are playing mahjong that means they're alright and that's something she wanted to confirm for herself.

"Naomi and Seiko feel like they came out from a game or something…" Arata felt that she had to criticize the director's originality for coming up with those names.

"It's a horror movie I think it fits well." Toshi replied. Although she was elderly, she was also running to keep up with the young ones.

"Still… I think they should've gone for something more original." Arata replied.

They only needed to follow the stream of people to get to the said café. It was not hard to believe that the place as almost full when they got there. The dining tables were empty but the mahjong area was clearly crowded. Because of the absence of a giant screen monitor, the two tables where the pros played were surrounded by bystanders.

Toyone who was the tallest of all managed to take a peek at the players and the first person she saw made her feel relieved and delighted.

"It's Miyanaga-san!" Cheered Toyone after she saw the short brown haired girl.

"Alright!" Shizuno was jubilant as well. She pushed against the people already in the area to get a peek at what's happening. The first thing she saw was the score board. Under the name 'Naomi' which was crossed out and replaced by the name 'Miyanaga Saki' was an amazing reality. For twelve games in a row, she dominated everybody and in every game she was ahead by more than plus fifty points.

"Ah I see Teru as well." Sumire who stood on one of the dining tables (to the staff's dismay) saw a pink haired girl who discarded her glasses and fixed her hair properly. The score board beside Teru was amazing as well. It was complete dominance. Arguably Kokaji-pro was the best professional player around but with the other less competent players on the board, the full time announcers, Teru was able to use her abilities to the fullest. It was complete dominance and Teru was always plus forty points ahead of the second placer Kokaji.

Back in the two tables the audience continues to squeal in awe as the two sisters began to grandstand.

"Kan!"

"Kan!"

The two sisters declared quads at the same time. Saki had four nines while Teru had four red dragons. Everybody was frozen in both awe and terror as the two monsters of the mahjong world reached out for the dead wall. Almost as if in synch, two tiles echoed at the same time as the two players slammed their winning tiles on the board.

"Tsumo! Chanta, San'shoku, San'ankou, five Doras, Rinshan Kaihou! That will be thirty-two thousand please!"

"Tsumo! Daisangen and Suu'ankou plus Rinshan Kaihou. Original point value, ninety six thousand, but with the limit rule that will be thirty-two thousand please."

Everybody roared and cheered as the two sisters declared their win at the same time. That was the eighth victory for the two. Everyone in the table rolled back their chairs, which had wheels below the legs, and it was the sign for end their games. Saki and Teru stood up and turned to each other.

"We won!" Saki cheered. It wasn't a part of any tournament but it felt like they've achieved something as much.

"You did well Saki. I'm proud of you." She stretched her hand and invited Saki to come over to her. The little sister happily obliged herself to jump into her sister's arm where she was well met with a warm embrace.

"Oneechan!" She said this aloud but she was muffled by her sister's embrace. She felt ecstatic because she always wanted to hear her sister praise her. All the praises she heard combined since then are nothing to this one single compliment from her sister.

"You mastered Rinshan Kaihou this much already but you still have much to bloom." Teru reminded her little sister of that flower that grows abundantly and beautifully on top of the mountains.

"Y-Yes!" Saki nodded as they ended their embrace. She took it as a loving command from her sister and she promised herself that she'll be a lot better in the future.

Teru was just smiling as she looked at her sister but her smile quickly turned to a gasp as she noticed someone behind Saki.

"S-Sumire! What are you doing here?!" Teru was shocked to see the person she knew well in the café. She was about to freak out and asked herself if they saw what she and Saki just did.

"…" Sumire was silent as she took out her wallet, took out ten thousand yen from it, and handed it to Hisa.

"Eh?" Hisa wondered as she accepted the money.

"I should've known better than to go against your bad waits." Sumire kept her wallet again.

"Miyanaga-san!" Shizuno rushed in and went beside the mahjong player in maid costume.

"T-Takakamo-san you're here too?" Saki recognized Toyone, Toshi, Junko and her camera man and some of the crew members but she was surprised to see some of the people in Achiga's team.

"We were so worried when we heard you were missing!" Shizuno looked happy but she was also in tears as she said this.

"Miyanaga-san I'm so sorry that I lost you!" Toyone was the second one to approach her. She was crying and she looked like she did back when she wailed after losing in the team competition.

"No Anetai-san I was the one who made the wrong turn it wasn't your fault." Saki felt bad that Toyone was blaming herself for what happened.

"I'm so glad that you're okay!" Toyone gave Saki a big hug that almost squeezed the life out of her.

"E-Excuse me, this is so happy and all but do you think we can meet with the director? I bet he's already worried sick for the two of you." One of the crewmen asked the two mahjong stars. Both of them nodded in approval. They have to send the director their apologies for missing the filming.

After she managed to free herself from Toyone's embrace she found herself in front of a maid named Erica. Her face flustered red as she approached the young Miyanaga with a canvas in her hand.

"C-Can you please-…." She stretched out her arms and handed Saki the canvas. Saki knew well what that was for.

"Y-Yes." Saki wrote her new autograph on it. She remembered what Erica told her before back when she was disguised and was embarrassed as she wrote on the canvas.

"Thank you so much!"

Erica was overjoyed to receive the canvas.

"Oh a-and this is your…" Erica took out two hair-rubber-bands which she took off from Saki's hair awhile ago.

Saki met Erica's hand in the middle and closed the maid's fingers around the bands.

"Please keep them Erica-san. I can't leave anything much to have you remember me except those." Saki wanted the maid who gave them shelter a remembrance of their meeting.

"R-Really?!" Erica nodded and kept the bands close to her heart.

"Wait before we all go can we have the two Miyanagas pose a bit for me this is a really good chance while both of you are wearing those beautiful outfits."

"Eh? Sure."

"I have no problems about it." The two sisters agreed.

For the first time the cover of Mahjong Weekly were the faces of the two best high school players. Both of them looked sincerely happy in the photo where Teru's right arm was over her sister's shoulders while pulling Saki close and both of them had the peace sign raised with a tile in between the fingers they have raised (the tile Saki held was the East Wind while Teru had the West Wind).

After that, they finally said farewell to the café. The two sisters didn't have time to change so they left as they were and promised to return the outfit the next day. Teru wanted to walk with her sister side-by-side as they made their way to the hotel.

"Saki you're coming in the training camp tomorrow right?" Teru asked. She remembered Sumire saying that 'since Saki is seeded she didn't need to come'.

"Of course I am oneechan." Saki nodded, she wondered why Teru asked her that.

"Ah!"

Teru had a wide smile on her face. Then she noticed something important missing.

"Saki where are your hair-rubber-bands?" Teru noticed that Saki didn't have them on. She wondered if she had them kept inside her pocket.

"Ah! I gave them to Erica for remembrance." Saki replied.

In that instant Teru stopped moving and it was not until everyone was three meters away when they noticed that the Shiraitodai star was still.

"Oneechan?" Saki looked at her sister to see if something's wrong.

"I- I'm going back!" Teru was about to run back but a hand grabbed her by the back of her collar and pulled her back.

"No! You're not causing us anymore trouble! You're putting the name of Shiraitodai in shame!" It was Sumire who stopped Teru from rushing away.

"No! I cherished those bands for three years! I can't part with them like this!" Teru was flailing and trashing around all the way to the hotel.

When they got in the hotel the first thing they did was find the director so the sisters could apologize. However, the director was only very happy to see his stars fine and in fact he also apologized for not having them fetched and not giving them a complete map of the place. The two sisters didn't mind and now at least they know where to meet on Monday when they continue filming.

"Okay! Let's have a party tonight!" The director said this as they reached the hotel's dining place. It appears that the director rented the whole area for the crew's and the actors' celebration.

"We'll be going I guess." Akado who felt that they have already overstayed their welcome took her members with her.

"Oh please don't go I've already booked VIP rooms for everyone!" The director stopped the coach and the two girls.

"E-Eh? But we can't possibly." Harue felt shy to accept the offer but the director was insistent about it.

"We get to stay in the same place as Miyanaga-san? This is great!" Shizuno cheered. She really wanted to spend time with Saki but thanks to all the ruckus she wasn't able to do this until now.

After everybody decided to take the offer it was finally time for the small party. The tables used were traditional Japanese short tables and everybody had to sit on a pillow on the floor. Gourmet food was served to everyone in the director's expense. Saki was particularly happy about this because the last meal she had was deathly horrible.

"Pfft!" Sumire spew out the drink she was offered.

"I-Is there something wrong miss?" The director wondered if there was a mistake in his order.

"I'm sorry but I'm not very good with rum." Sumire replied.

"Rum? I ordered for coke and they gave us rum?" The director looked pissed.

"I- I'm sorry sir, w-we will have everything fixed at once. It appears we had your orders confused with the customer next door. Please accept our humble apologies and we will add some free dessert to compensate." One hotel employee was in the verge of panicking as he took some of the glass away.

"…" Teru was silent but her face was flustered bright red. In her hand was an empty glass that looked as if it was full a moment ago.

"Wait Teru you didn't drink all that rum did you?" Sumire asked.

"Oneechan drinks rum? I never thought you already drink oneechan." Saki asked. Never in her life until now did she see her sister drink wine or any alcoholic beverages.

"N-No… I don't think she ever has." Sumire added. She too in the three years they had as club mates did she know that Teru could drink alcohol.

"What ish everybody looking at?" Teru began to speak inconsistently. It was obvious that she wasn't used to drinking alcohol.

"Eh? Miyanaga Teru is drunk?" Shizuno gasped. It was her first time to see a high school student get drunk.

"I'm not drunk… I'm jshusht a little disshy thash all." Teru stood up and walked behind Saki.

"O-Oneechan?" Saki was rather scared at how her sister is acting. Having not seen Teru drunk before she too was a stranger to what might happen in the next few minutes.

"Everyboji thish is mah little shishter. Cute ishn't she?" She hugged her sister from behind and started rubbing her hair rigorously.

"O-Oneechan!" Saki felt good that her sister was acknowledging her but something about this was telling her to escape as fast as possible.

"This would be a good scoop if she wasn't drunk… make sure the camera is off." Junko instructed her cameraman who nodded fast in compliance.

"But really Shaki I'm proud! You've become sho good in mahjong." Teru kept hugging her little sister and even placed her entire weight on Saki's frail body that they were almost toppled off balance.

"T-Thank you oneechan." Saki replied. She wondered if her sister could understand her in this condition.

"But shtill… You shtill need more training. Let me show you… hic… how to use Rinshan Kaihou properly."

"E-Eh?" Saki looked back sideways at her sister whose face was breathing closely beside her.

"Now kan!" Everything went lightning fast and in a matter of a split second. Saki felt the inside of her skirt and underwear invaded by someone's hand.

"Pfft!" Everybody who was unfortunate enough to be drinking that time choked on their drink and spew them out.

"T-The camera is already off right?! Make sure it's off!" Junko grabbed her cameraman by the collar. She could not afford her two subjects to be seen like this.

"Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean this is getting out of hand real fast." Even Hisa who was considered to be a 'play girl' to other girls was stunned at what was happening in front of her.

"She jumped up a notch…" Sumire said this. She and Hisa had blank look on their faces while pretending that they're not watching their two aces degrade themselves.

"She did, didn't she?" Hisa turned to Sumire.

"Yeah… she just stabbed her hand in there." Sumire nodded as she turned to respond to Hisa.

"Ugh worse is that everybody saw that." Hisa blushed on this statement.

"This can kill a fan." Sumire looked really troubled but it's not too obvious because she too could not help herself but blush while looking at her ace 'search' for something.

"Do you think so?"

"Fans, who will see this will probably poke their own eyes, set themselves on fire then kill themselves with tridents." Sumire replayed some scenarios in her head that worried her in case there was a hidden camera somewhere.

"I guess we should convince them to lay off the skin ship for now. Or many people will be wanted for murder." Hisa suggested as she takes a turkey leg from the table.

"O-Oneechan you won't find any tile in there!" Saki was tense as she felt her sister's hand search underneath her.

"H-Here it ish… Rinshan Kaihou!" Teru shouted as she clamped her fingers on something she caught inside her sister's underwear.

"Mmmph!" Saki tried to cover her mouth with both of her hands. But even after that, it was the first time for everybody to see Saki squeal and scream in a high pitched manner that people in the other rooms were alarmed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Love in Bloom  
**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Saki sadly  
**

PS: I included a sneak preview for the next chapter, Thanks for all the reviews! keep em' coming cause it's making me really happy~3

* * *

Seven o'clock in the morning, a girl was preparing everything she needed for today's training camp. This girl did not witness yesterday's events for she had classes and was not allowed to escort her friend to another prefecture. Her name is Nodoka Haramura and right now she was as excited as anyone participating for the joint venture.

"My comb, deodorants, change of clothes, perfume, hmm… what else could have I forgotten." Nodoka placed her thumb on her temple as she asked herself what else she would need.

In their training camp before, she only brought enough for she was with her friends. However today she will be with other people but she was especially worried about a certain someone's relative. She wanted to look her best every minute in the camp if possible.

"You're seriously thinking this much for a simple training camp?" Her father who was always against taking mahjong seriously asked her with an indifferent look on his face as he intruded her room.

"I love mahjong father, and it's not only for mahjong it's also for my friends." Nodoka replied. She remembered her promise with them that she will be there to defend their title next year.

"Your friends? Tell me exactly why you need to put your clothes under a microscope for your friends?" Her father had a scrutinizing weird look on his face as he said this.

"W-What? I- I mean-…." Nodoka realized then that she made the wrong impression with her choice of words as the silhouette of a certain someone appeared in her mind.

"You know what? Never mind."

Her father placed his hand on his forehead like he had a splitting headache. For some reason he felt disappointed that he could tell who Nodoka was trying to impress with her choice of clothes. The expression he had was similar to the last dinosaur's expression knowing that his genes is about to be extinct.

"But let me tell you this, you haven't packed enough." All of a sudden, the father was looking at his daughter with sharp eyes.

"E-Eh?" Nodoka was confused. Whatever did her father mean?

"Remember our deal? I told you that if you manage to win the team competition in the nationals then I will allow you to spend your life the way you want with your friends. However, I cannot stay in this town for much longer because of my job." The man in his forties had a stern look on his face.

"What? But we had a deal!" Nodoka felt betrayed that her father was telling her this now.

"You didn't let me finish! Anyway, as I said, there is no way for me to remain in this prefecture however you still have an option. You claim that mahjong has given you true friends, if you can convince one of your friends to take you in then I will let you stay in this prefecture." The father explained.

Nodoka's eyes were left wide open in shock. She honestly couldn't decide whether what she just heard was a favor or was a form of abandonment.

"But that means…" Nodoka had her hands on her mouth.

"Yes, it means that this training camp marks the point in your life you have sought for so long. After the training camp you can either meet me in the train station or go back with one of your friends and live with them." Nodoka still had a shocked look while her father enumerated to her the options.

"Are you by any chance making me choose between you and my friends?" Nodoka felt hurt with her own interpretation of her father's words. If it was true then it was a cruel move for she would be forced to move out and leave her friends.

"I am a person of law Nodoka. I do not do such a thing. What I'm making you choose is between two principles. You have sacrificed good high school education for mahjong and your friends and the way things are going I foresee that you're willing to sacrifice college level education as well. If you choose to remain here with your friends, I will take care of your tuition fee and some other essentials but that's all." The father looked almost sympathetic as he said this.

"But can't I just live in a hotel? Or maybe we can buy a small condominium and…"

"No." Nodoka's father cut her off even before she could finish.

"But-…!"

"You exchanged everything I offered you for what you currently have. If what you have cannot even get you a good shelter then I suppose I will oppose your decision to stay."

"No!" Nodoka uncontrollably erupted. She was determined to stay in Nagano.

"Then you have three days in your training camp to ask your friends. But looking at you, I say you already have someone in mind."

"N-Not exactly." Nodoka tried to hide the pink shade on her cheeks but her father was already on to her.

"Anyway, whatever happens this is the last time you and I will be stepping in this house. Make sure you pack everything you need and want." The father went out of the room for a bit and returned with a huge empty box. It was a box that can fit a twenty-one inch flat screen T.V. filled with Styrofoam and bubble-wraps.

"Father I can't bring that with me to the camp!" Nodoka protested.

"Why not? It will be easier to explain your situation like this." Her father replied and explained.

"I can't just go there with a box of all my stuff!" Nodoka continued to protest.

"Fine… I suppose I can save gas if you just take what you can right now and just have your things delivered to you when you make your choice."

The father sighed and gave in.

"You have your mobile phone so email me if you made your choice." These were the last words the father gave before leaving the room. Nodoka was left wondering what to do. She certainly had someone in mind but can she do it? Can she actually tell that someone and request to allow her to move in?

Eight o'clock am in a hotel the members of three teams are also busy preparing. They were late in waking up because of all the partying they did last night.

"You guys are having a training camp?! This is perfect! We're joining you!" The usually timid Akado was quick to receive the invitation that was never given.

"Ah… actually…" Hisa wanted to explain how the training camp was supposed to be only for the two teams to strengthen the bond and to mend everything between the two sisters but….

"I'll call my pro-teammate in Nara and tell her to fetch my other members. Where are we gathering again?" Akado looked at Hisa with such hopeful eyes that it was impossible for Hisa to wave her head.

"I'll email you the place and directions…" Hisa replied.

"Alright! With this and our practice with Senriyama next week Achiga is sure to get better!" Akado felt proud and excited for her team.

Hisa and Sumire exchanged looks. The two engineers of the plan sighed. Now that the Achiga coach has called her members there's no turning her down. Although the plan will be a little altered because now they have to pay for more rooms for the newcomers but that's not much of an issue because of the team's combined nearly unlimited budget.

"Is everybody already awake?" Sumire asked her partner in crime.

"Toyone and her mentor are already eating, Saki is still asleep but I'm going to wake her up. How about Teru?" Hisa asked. She was a little worried for the Shiraitodai ace who was acting really weird yesterday after taking a glass of alcohol.

"See for yourself…" Sumire pointed behind her. A girl sitting on a couch for guests and customers in the lobby had a face towel on her face as she slouched and leaned backwards.

"My headaches… what happened yesterday? I don't remember anything…" Teru groaned in pain.

"A hangover? From just one glass?!" Hisa was surprised. It seems there are more to the Miyanaga family than just mahjong abilities.

"And Teru…" Sumire went over and leaned towards to Teru to explain the events that occurred last night.

Teru's face blushed bright red as she placed her hand on lips.

"I- I did that?!" Teru gasped.

"Yes. It's a history of the Shiraitodai Ace that must never be told." Sumire nodded as if they came to an agreement.

"I did such a thing… and I don't even remember it?!" Teru shouted with a look of utmost despair and disappointment combined.

"Yes… that's wh… wait what?" Sumire was about to nod again before she realized what it was that Teru was worried about.

"Sumire! Do you have any picture or anything that can make me remember?" Teru looked at Sumire innocently as if this was the most natural thing to ask.

"You…" Sumire tried to control herself as she closed her fist and started trembling as she said this in a stern voice.

"None? How about videos or maybe some recordings and… ah!" Teru was punched to the floor before she could enumerate more.

"Can you stop destroying our image of you!?" Sumire roared as she stepped on her president's back continuously trying to bring some sense into her.

"But as my acting secretary don't you have the duty to record every club activity!" Teru protested as she received the blows from underneath Sumire. She had her hands curled over her head to protect her cranium from the harsh stomps of the angry sergeant.

"Ahaha what a lively bunch you are."

Hisa laughed. She was reminded of her own team which can be rowdy at times too especially the combination of Mako, Yuki and Suga.

"I should wake Saki up." Hisa noticed the time and decided that they have to leave soon but as soon as she turned to the direction of Saki's room she was stopped.

"I'll do it!" Teru volunteered with a determined face as if it was an enormous task. She even had her fist raised above her chest.

"You don't have to I can-…." Hisa didn't want to trouble Teru but the older sister was already gone when she turned.

The hall Saki's room was located was on the third floor. The way there was paved with red carpet as if it was a government politician using the place. The director made sure that his stars had the best rooms and only Teru was unable to take that privilege because she was too drunk to go into her own room.

Teru was pretty excited since it has been years since she witnessed Saki's morning face. She had some questions in her mind that pushed her more like 'does she still drool when she sleeps?' or 'does she still moan sometimes?' or even 'does she still talk in her sleep?'. When she reached the room's door she first checked if the knob was locked and found that it isn't.

"She doesn't lock the door like always."

Teru sighed. It was a rule in their house not to lock doors if they didn't have to. However it's an utmost importance to lock doors when they're in hotels, resorts or other places for safety reasons. Teru knocked three times on the door and unlike her film character, 'Seiko', she didn't kick it down.

"Saki, wake up." Teru called from outside however nobody answered. Using her wise judgment that stems from her desire to see her sister's morning face she allowed herself in. In doing so her cheerful smile quickly turned to a gasp as she saw something couldn't take.

Her sister wasn't alone on the bed for she shared it with another girl. Seeing someone else share the same bed with her sister was bad enough but the position they were in ticked her off the most. This Kiyosumi ace and the Achiga ace were lying in complete opposite direction where their heads were nearly touching each other's private places. To make matters they were facing each other and even with their eyes closed they still had rosy cheeks that made it look like they were flustered. Their outfit didn't help either since they were lent by the hotel some really expensive and sexy two piece sleeping-wear

"Time passes so fast, I can already smell the spring flowers…" Shizuno moaned in her sleep as she pushed her face closer to that forbidden place.

"K-Kyahh o-oneechan you're drunk again?!" Saki yelped. It seems that she's having dreams about her drunken sister last night thanks to Shizuno. To Teru's dismay Saki used Shizuno's left leg like a soft hotdog pillow. Then like what she usually does with a hotdog pillow she tried to wrap her leg around it which inevitably allowed Shizuno more access.

Teru paused standing on the spot where she opened the door with her face covered by the shade of her hair. She had a couple of choices on what to do with the girl lying beside Saki and all of them required Shizuno's lower half to be liberated from her upper half. The floors were corrupted by her rage that the green carpets inside the room that started to turn red as if they were merging with the red carpets outside.

As if it was Shizuno's personal defense mechanism, her eyes began to twitch as she started to wake up. The first thing she saw with her blurry eyes were the clean whites Saki had on her. At first she was tempted to take a bite on it for it looked like an upside down triangle onigiri until she realized the silky patterns embroidered on its side.

"Eh? T-This is."

The smell radiating from what's in front of her reminded her of a similar scent that from the previous training camp she had. Her eyes widened as she jolted up and backed away almost falling down from the bed.

"M-Miyanaga-san!" Shizuno yelped. She finally remembered where she was and the situation she was in. However, the girl in front of her didn't budge for it turns out that girl was an even heavier sleeper than her.

"Did you call me or my sister that you just violated?" A voice filled with murderous intent replied to her call from behind her.

Shizuno was shocked to see what looked like a pink haired older version of the girl on the bed who was cracking her knuckles as if she was going to smash someone to a pulp. Shizuno could only say 'eep!' and back away to the backboard of the bed. The pink-haired demon continued to approach the poor fear struck girl who was pinned on the backboard of the bed.

"Oneechan?" The girl in the middle of all this misunderstanding finally woke up. The first blurry thing she saw was the image of two girls.

"Saki you're awake!" Teru was distracted from her rage towards Shizuno by Saki.

"K-Kyah! P-Pervert!" Saki squealed.

"Yes Saki I'm just about to deal with the pervert right here." Teru replied and went back to Shizuno who was yelping and jerking as her hand was pinned on the board by the Shiraitodai Ace.

"You're the pervert Oneechan! What are you doing to my friend?!" Saki asked with a judgmental look at her sister.

"E-Eh? I think you're getting this all wrong. I'm here to beat up the pervert." Teru flashed a worried smile.

"B-But it was oneechan that t-touched me yesterday." Saki said this stuttering and almost in tears as she accused her old sister for last night's little mishap.

"O-Oh that!? Saki I was drunk I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… _well actually I would mean too if I wasn't sober_." Teru tried to calm her little sister who was already in the verge of crying.

"Because of oneechan I probably won't get married anymore!" Saki blurted out. This statement received blushes from the two other girls in the room which included Shizuno. It's apparent that Saki was one of those girls who subscribed to the belief that if you get touched by anyone then you would be unfit for marriage.

"I- I see… I understand… I'm sorry."

Teru closed her eyes and turned to Saki and approached her.

"Don't worry my sister. This is my fault so I will take responsibili-…!" Before Teru could complete her statement a blunt blow to the back of the head sent her to the bed.

"Don't suddenly blurt out serious things you idiot!" It was Sumire who stopped Teru from saying something that could've caused a massive social storm.

"What's happening here?"

Another person entered the room. It was Akado who came to wake up Shizuno too.

"Oh don't tell me it happened again?" The coach of Achiga had a concerned yet teasing look on her face.

"Again?" Teru was suddenly up on her feet upon hearing this from Akado.

"C-Coach stop making it worse for me already!" Shizuno begged. She was already in enough trouble and didn't want to have her coach compound on everything.

"Yeah, on our last training camp with Kiyosumi Shizuno shared rooms with Saki too and we saw them in a really erotic position the day after." Akado explained this with a cheerful and happy go lucky face without knowing how much danger she just placed her member into.

"S-Sensei!" Shizuno cried.

"So… you did not only violate my sister once…" An extremely angry Teru slowly turned her head towards Shizuno.

"Oneechan!" Teru felt a pair of small arms wrap around her chest from behind her. It was her sister who was leaning on her back like a koala to a tree.

"S-Saki!" Teru was surprised to have her sister hugging her from behind.

"Sorry oneechan, it's just that this is the first time I've waken up to see you." Saki said this with sincere and extreme cheerfulness as if everything that happened last night was but a dream.

"Oh Saki!" With tears in her eyes she turned to return the hug of her little sister and held her close to her chest.

"Uuu…" Shizuno had a pout on her face that she hid from everybody.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me you're jealous!" Akado teased her student in a whisper after she noticed the change in her member's facial expression.

"S-Shut up!" Shizuno retaliated with a flustered face. She hasn't forgiven her coach for almost killing her by saying something completely unnecessary in front of Miyanaga Teru.

"Oh come on, you need to start getting friendly with everybody since we're joining their training camp today." Akado insisted.

Shizuno looked surprise that they suddenly had an agenda today. Akado explained to her that they will be meeting the other Achiga members who will be fetched by Akado's professional teammate. Usually Shizuno would be extremely excited but with a third-year from Shiraitodai out for her blood she was not sure if she will enjoy this three way camp.

"Teru we have to go and fetch our own members." Sumire tried to break-off the two sisters who were still in the middle of hugging. After all, Shiraitodai isn't just some small school with few members, there are other members who even though are not a part of the playing team are still coming in the camp. They have more members than the largest mahjong playing school in Nara named Kazekoshi.

"Okay." Teru ended the hug for a while to give Sumire a couple of a thousand yen.

"What's this?" Sumire looked at the money inside her hand.

"For the fair going to West Tokyo of course. You're going to fetch them right?" Teru replied. This act of the team ace caused twitches and trembles on Sumire's face.

Five minutes later outside of the hotel's building.

"See you later oneechan!" Saki waved to her elder sister who was being dragged by her collar forcibly by a very angry teammate.

"I won't be gone long!" Teru waved back and shouted in reply. She had a huge lump on her head which was given to her by the person dragging her.

"_I'm glad everything's going well for these two idiots. But if you keep acting this way, I'm not sure if both our teams will make it to the tournament before a scandal erupts._" Sumire thought to herself. In one hand she feels good that their plan to reconcile the sisters worked but on the other hand she couldn't have Shiraitodai's reputation be tarnished because of it.

"Geez Sumire let me go my sister needs me!" Teru protested once again.

"You have three whole days to bond now shut up already! And we're not going back to West Tokyo that's too far! We're just going to Tochigi to meet up with everyone!" Sumire replied. They disappeared in a cab that was called for them by one of the film crew men which will take them to the train station to West Tokyo.

"Saki!" The president of the Kiyosumi mahjong club called out to her member with her mobile phone in her hand.

"Eh?" Saki turned to the president with a curious look. She just finished waving goodbye to the cab that had its windows down because somebody kept waving from inside.

"Here, it's Nodoka, she said she wanted to talk to you." Hisa replied as she tossed Saki her phone who almost failed to catch it.

"O-Okay… hello Haramura-san?" Saki wondered what it was that Nodoka wanted to ask her that couldn't wait until the training camp.

"Saki… umm…" Nodoka was stuttering nervously from the other end of the line.

"What is it Nodoka?" Saki asked. She could sense hesitation in Nodoka's voice and felt worried about it.

"I was just wondering, but you said before that you live alone right?" Nodoka asked. She remembered a conversation with Saki before when Saki said that her father had to go abroad due to work related reasons.

"Yes. I live alone right now." Saki replied. It was a rather curious question and Saki wondered why Nodoka asked that. Was she worried that Saki was alone? But she has been alone for a few months now.

"I was just… umm… never mind I'll see you in the camp." Nodoka decided that she couldn't tell Saki her plight in the phone as her face flustered like a tomato. She hang up and left Saki hanging on the other end.

"Well what was it about?" Hisa asked Saki.

"I don't know… she just asked me if I lived alone." Saki waved her head left to right in a gesture of confusion before giving her president's phone back.

"That's odd." Hisa replied. She placed her finger under her chin in a thinking pose.

"She said that she'll meet us in the meeting place." Saki added.

"If that's all she said then we should eat now so we can prepare and leave early." Hisa insisted.

"We'll leave as soon as my members arrive." Akado nodded and escorted everyone to the hotel's dining room.

"Eh? Shizuno-san you're joining us! We can play again." Saki was happy to find out that her new friend from Achiga was joining them.

"Yes Saki-chan!" Shizuno nodded. Almost like she forgot what awaits her when Shiraitodai comes she was just looking forward to playing with strong players again especially Saki.

"Talking using each other's first names already. You two sure gotten close." Akado looked impressed.

Meanwhile looking from behind everybody was a girl who has been left behind since yesterday's events. She was the tallest person in there but currently the most unnoticed.

"_Even Takakamo-san has managed to get to that level where she can call Miyanaga-san with only her first name._" She bit her lip in slight jealousy.

"I'll be living my Toyone in your capable hands then." Toshi Kumakura the mentor and former coach of the girl who calls herself Toyone passed the responsibility to Hisa and the other members of both clubs of Kiyosumi and Achiga.

"You're not joining us sensei?" Toyone asked. She felt sad that her mentor won't join them for this important training camp.

"Aww… coach…" Akado who knew the old woman well was also disappointed to hear that she wouldn't have her former coach with her on this training camp. She hoped that her members would get to train with more than one pro (her).

"I'm sorry everyone but I have important things planned. Believe me that I would cancel them if I could but it's really impossible." Kumakura replied with regret in her voice. It seemed that the old woman had many things planned throughout the week. This is understandable since she will be an official for the upcoming selection tournament and she also had her own professional team to work with.

"Toyone's safe with us." Hisa assured the safety of Kumakura's student. She didn't want the old lady to worry about anyone while they were in the training camp.

"I'm sure she is." Kumakura had full confidence in Hisa and her leadership. After all it was Hisa who led Kiyosumi into the championship and won the trophy. Most of all, it was Hisa who guided Saki into this height where not one person not even professionals can hope to touch.

"_I will make sure that I advance my relationship with Miyanaga-san in this training camp as well._" A very determined Toyone had a confident and determined smile on her face. She was determined to use this training camp as a booster to get close with her idol, friend and teammate.

Meanwhile in a different prefecture, some girls were just informed that they will be joining a training camp out of the blue. Achiga's Kuro and Yuu Matsumi and Ako Atarashi were surprised that they were being fetched by a girl who claims to be a professional teammate of Harue Akado.

"Here's your coach's text message. We need to be there soon." The pro reported.

"A training camp with both Kiyosumi and Shiraitodai?! T-This is a whole new level! Are we supposed to fight off Saki and Teru Miyanaga?" Kuro felt scared. She has now experienced fighting both of the two Miyanaga demons and she can't imagine having to fight them in the same board.

"So are we going to tell her that we're not coming?" The professional had a 'sarcastic' tone in her voice almost mocking Kuro's indecision.

"N-No! We're going!" Kuro replied with seemingly full confidence. However it was clear by looking at her face that she was more scared than excited.

"We'll be training with Senriyama next week too. This is some hellish training camp the coach got us into." Ako laughed. In one way she shared Shizuno Takakamo's tenacity towards playing mahjong but she's a hybrid who was a bit hesitant and willing.

"It's for the tournament!" In a rare act of confidence it was Yuu Matsumi who now stepped forward to encourage her two teammates.

"O-Oneesan…" Kuro was impressed and awed at the courage her sister was now showing her.

The three members who were left in Achiga held hands and shouted "Let's do this!" in a burst of confidence and excitement.

"That's great! I have the coordinates right here. We'll be going in the hotel where they stayed yesterday then go with them to the training camp's location. Hurry up and pack we can't afford to be anymore later than this." The professional insisted. Without asking or saying anything more the girls hurried to pack their stuff.

"But I wonder how the coach managed to set such a camp." Ako wondered. She knew that her coach had contacts but Shiraitodai should be out of her reach. In fact if it wasn't for Nodoka Kiyosumi should also be out of her coach's network.

"Also, I wonder where she, Arata-chan and Shizuno-chan went. They never came home since yesterday." Kuro added. It appears that Harue never mentioned yesterday's events in her emails.

"I don't know but that friend of mine can really surprise you like this." The professional player who was close to Harue Akado let out a laugh. It took them less than thirty minutes to fully prepare before leaving for Shiga prefecture where Harue Akado and some other people who were involved in the camp waiting.

* * *

Eight thirty P.M. in West Tokyo. Inside the prestigious school of Shiraitodai there was a cult which was formed out of pure admiration for the ace who was said to have reached the peak of high school mahjong. Majority of the club members are girls who are also a part of the mahjong club but there are of course non-mahjong club members. Right now everybody in that club which amounts to about forty members are in a meeting just before the mahjong club leaves for the training camp. They were wearing blue robes with matching blue pointy hoods that covered most of their heads where they can only see through two tiny holes. On the forehead of their hoods was the letter T carved with yellow ink, what it stands for who fucking cares but it's probably Teru or something else.

"Is everybody accounted for?" Said one of the club members who was standing in front of everybody. She's the cult's leader and without spoiling anything, she's also one of the two people who plotted to shame Saki in front of the camera a few days ago in the film set.

"Yes leader!" The person who stood as their secretary saluted in military fashion. She was holding a notebook in her hands where everybody's attendance was noted.

"Okay, we gather here today to discuss our 'Bust Saki Miyanaga for the Phony That She Is' operation." The leader said.

"Ah… leader… are we really going to go through with this? You remember the last time that-…!" One of the members raised her hand in protest. This member was the other girl who was with their leader before.

"Of course we are! And forget what happened the last time. We won't fail this time! This is all for the integrity of our dear own Teru-sama!" The leader said this passionately as if she was talking to a kind landlady while showering her with plentiful rice and corn as tribute.

"But I heard that Miyanaga Saki is actually-…!"

"Forget what you heard! Didn't Teru-sama declare in front of everyone that she had no such a thing as a sister?!" Once again the leader said this with full conviction that defied normal commonsense.

"But-…!"

"If you dare say something like that again then we'll consider you a blasphemer!" Everybody in the room started looking at the poor girl whose pointed hood was beginning to droop in fear.

"Y-yes." The girl nodded as she tried to pull up her drooping hood.

"So what is the plan great leader?!" One of the members asked with full vigor.

"Unlike puny Kiyosumi we're many. When they're playing later some of us will keep our eyes on that Saki and watch her every move. Each of us will be wearing this!"

The leader flashed a small camera which was designed to be camouflaged as a necktie-pin.

"When we see anything suspicious later we'll catch her in action then expose her dirty tricks!" The leader was very excited to the point that she was shaking as she was saying this.

"But leader, in all of the tournaments, do you think it was possible for Miyanaga Saki to get away with using a 'trick'?" It was the same girl who was against the whole operation who once again raised her hand to ask a question.

"Tsk, tsk, just because she's good at hiding her tricks doesn't mean she's innocent." The leader was adamant to prove her theory. It was already apparent that she already closed her mind to the any possibility that the enemy's luck was a part of a masterfully done trick that had everybody baffled.

"But…"

"There's no other possible explanation. Nobody in the history of humanity has ever and I mean ever scored with a Rinshan Kaihou by that much. In fact it's already a big rarity to see such a hand in a tournament." The leader continued to defend her theory.

"I agree but… don't we have people in our own school that had something similar of the sort? I mean Sumire-san has her archery mahjong skill which guarantees her a direct hit to anyone on the board, Shibuya-san talks about something called 'harvest' and even Teru-san has-…!"

"Don't you dare compare anyone in our prestigious mahjong club to that tramp!"

The leader flared up. Hearing her precious 'Teru-sama's' name used with Saki's ticked her off.

"Fine, you want evidence? Secretary give us your findings of the last few tournaments." The leader looked at her secretary who was sitting on a seat beside here while taking notes with a pen and a small notebook which was the very same notebook used for attendance.

"After the team competition, it's said that the committee increased their security by fifty percent. And at that time, strangely the amount of wins Miyanaga Saki achieved after a Kan also decreased significantly." The secretary explained.

"See. What can you say about that?" The leader felt confident that she had a good case building up for her argument.

"I don't know… maybe the enemies were too easy?"

"No! It means that she couldn't use her trick because of the increased security!" The leader flared up once again.

"That's just jumping to conclusions…"

"No! It's the only logical conclusion! Why do you keep defending her anyway? Are you her fan?!" The leader accused her member? All of a sudden every girl in robe had red glowing eye holes on their hoods as they closed in on the poor isolated member.

"N-No t-this is a-… ah!" Before she could explain a mass of members carried her before slamming her on the ground again and dog-piled on her.

"Death to the blasphemer!" Shouted some members while a pile of smoke erupted as they continued kicking and stomping on the poor defendant.

"Everyone silence!"

The leader finally calmed everyone down after a few seconds.

"I require all the members to wear these camera pins."

Pi pi pi

Her phone rang. The girl immediately took out her mobile phone and answered to check who it was on the other end.

"Hello." She answered.

"Yuuko-chan please call your friends, we got the call from the captain and Sumire it's time to go." Said the girl in the other end of the phone.

"Y-Yes." Apparently the leader's name is Yuuko. Like a meek little lamb she's forced to obey her sempai's orders.

"What is it?" Asked one of the members to their leader.

"All members of the mahjong club in this room we have to go. The bus is near, we're asked to prepare! Just remember your duties everyone!" One final encouragement came from Yuuko before the group finally dispersed out of the room.

"Yuuko, do you remember what happened on our last attempt?" The single member who was against this plan stepped up and approached Yuuko.

"Shoko we were careless with that last plan. We won't fail this time." Yuuko revealed a confident look as both of them removed their TTT outfits.

"No, I don't mean that. Don't you remember how much the Vice President defended Saki Miyanaga? She explicitly told us not to get anywhere near that girl." Shoko remembered the look of firm anger on Sumire's face that day.

"Sumire-sempai is a good person and I admire her but she doesn't understand our feelings for Teru-sama!" Despite Shoko's warning Yuuko looked as determined as ever.

"But…"

"Listen Shoko. Teru-sama is absolutely the perfect senior. She's the perfect mahjong player. For her to be dethroned for someone who cheats like that Saki Miyanaga is unacceptable." The look of admiration on this girl's face knew no equal. To her, Teru is the messiah of mahjong who cannot be defeated.

"You can't say that… the two of them had never fought." Shoko tried to recall if there was a time when the two Miyanagas were given the chance to face each other. In the team tournament Saki Miyanaga played as General while Teru played as Vanguard. In the individuals Teru didn't participate for Academic reasons. It was as if fate made it so that they won't cross paths.

"Well today, they will! It may not be official but we will see Teru-sama in all her glory as she gives that harlot a beat-down!" Yuuko looked and sounded excited. Shoko could only sigh in disbelief and disappointment as she failed to discourage her friend from her hopeless crusade.

* * *

Ten o'clock A.M. and the members of Kiyosumi in Shiga prefecture were only about to go.

"I'm sorry Akado-san, but I'm worried that some of my members already arrived there. I can't leave them alone." Hisa bowed as she gathered her stuff to prepare their departure.

"It's okay; I already have the map here." Akado replied with a huge smile on her face. She was particularly very happy to be able to work with the two top schools in the country.

"Toyone can you please call Saki. We need to leave." Hisa requested to the tall girl.

"Okay!" Toyone felt happy to oblige. She wanted to talk to Saki anyway.

Toyone walked up the hotel's stairs to fetch Saki who was still in her room. Her legs where somewhat shaky as she imagined what it is she wanted to talk about with Saki. She knocked three times on the door.

"Miyanaga-san we need to go." Toyone called.

"H-Haii Anetai-san!" Saki sounded like she was still doing something inside that kept her busy.

When Saki opened the door, Toyone found the girl holding a big bag. Inside the bag were the clothes lent to her by the mahjong café staff from yesterday's events.

"Are you ready Miyanaga-san?" Toyone wondered if Saki was really finished with her preparations. She was worried that she rushed the girl from what she was doing.

"Yes! Thank you for fetching me up here Anetai-san!"

"I- It's no problem at all." Toyone blushed after seeing Saki in her pajamas. She didn't have the time to change much so she only put on a jacket and changed to a more usable pair of shorts.

"Let's go then?"

Saki walked past Toyone hurriedly to avoid making the president wait some more. However before she could move more forward a pair of strong yet slender arms imprisoned her from behind.

"Eh? Anetai-san?" Saki wanted to look behind her but she couldn't turn because Toyone's body was blocking her.

"Sorry Miyanaga-san but… May I ask you a favor?" Toyone sounded hesitant as she said this. She was also perspiring because she was never someone who could say something like this initially.

"Of course Anetai-san what would it be?" Instead of trying to turn and face Toyone, Saki decided to lean back to hear her clearer.

"Can we…?" Toyone paused. The atmosphere surrounding them is comparable to the atmosphere of two people where one is about to confess his feelings to the other.

"Hmm?" Saki thought she didn't hear the rest of Toyone's request and didn't realize that Toyone paused.

"W-Would it be alright if we start calling each other by each other's nicknames?!" Toyone said this hurriedly for she just wanted to get over with it.

"Eh?"

Saki too paused for a while.

"Hai!"

Saki nodded. She tried to turn once again to face Toyone but the tall girl prevented her from doing so because she was too ashamed to show Saki her blushing face.

"W-What's wrong Toyone-san?" Saki wondered why Toyone was holding her shoulders so firmly.

"N-Nothing but can you please drop the honorifics? I would like it better that way." Honorifics are signs of respect but at the same time also signs of unfamiliarity. Basically the more formal the honorific the farther two people are.

"Okay… Toyone…" Saki said this slowly as she just processed what this transition meant. This time she was also pinkish on the cheeks but it's not for the same reason Toyone had but because she was jubilant for having another close friend.

"T-Thank you Saki." This tall girl felt extremely happy and didn't even notice that she was already hugging Saki from behind.

"Eh? It's a good thing Shizuno is downstairs and Teru already left the building or this could be troublesome." A voice interrupted them.

"Hoeh!? P-President!" Toyone was surprised to see the president in front of the stairs when she turned.

"I was wondering what happened to you too and here I find you being romantically entwined." Hisa both smirked and sighed.

"It's not what you think we were just-…!"

"We were just strengthening our FRIENDSHIP! We're now close FRIENDS!" Saki happily replied for her new intimate friend while unconsciously placing stress on every time she utters the word 'friend'.

"Ghk…" Toyone grasped her chest as each 'friend' word pierced through her like sharp scalpels.

"Oh! Is that so? Well sorry to disturb you FRIENDS but we have to go." The president emphasized on the word as well but it's not known if she was doing it on purpose while she had a playful smirk flashed at Toyone who felt like groveling on the ground in pain.

"_I- I guess I have to take it step by step._" Toyone sighed. After every heartbeat that she missed it was pretty disheartening to hear the reality that for now they're nothing but close friends. However at the same time at least she managed to take a step forward in this social war.

"Oh by the way Toyone, and president. Have you seen my socks? The pair I used yesterday? I can't seem to find them." Saki turned to the two girls as she made her way to the stairs.

"Eh? Sorry, but I haven't." Hisa waved her head together with Toyone who too was not aware about Saki's missing socks.

Ten O'clock in Gunma some members of the Kiyosumi club have already arrived. First on the scene was Yuki. This girl woke up rather early, but not because she was excited about the training, but rather because she's looking forward to Gunma style Tacos.

"We're here!" Yuki cheered. With her was a boy who was already practically her man-servant. This boy cooked her Tacos every time she needed them and he did this especially tasty when it's for a match in a tournament.

"Can you slow down you're making a scene…" Kyoutarou tried to scold the overly energetic petite girl with him. He can see people looking at them with smiles on their faces. One of them even said 'look at the young couple' in a whisper.

"Show me the Gunma Tacos! I came here to invade them and have them as my vassals!" The little high-school girl cheered.

"First of all you're not a lord so you cannot elect vassals. Second Tacos are food not people." Suga criticized Yuki's weirdness. He's already used to that girl's selfishness but despite that it's still quite the inconvenience to have everyone in the street staring at them.

"You're no fun!" Yuki frowned and punched the poor boy on the chest like she usually does.

"Ow! Let's just wait in the hotel the president chose for the joint training camp." Suga stumbled a bit but recovered immediately to check his mobile. On that mobile was the complete address of the hotel they agreed on.

Together they took a cab and showed the driver the address on the mobile phone.

"Karuizawa Hotel 1130? That's a very beautiful place to elope to." Said the taxi driver.

"We're not like that!" Suga was the first to deny the allegation.

"Don't be silly dear…" Almost like to ride the driver's cue Yuki hugged Suga's arm as a girlfriend does.

"Ah! Stop it you squirt! You know about the hotel mister?" Suga asked.

"Do I know about the hotel?!

The taxi driver returned his question as if it was the most ridiculous thing to ask.

"Of course! Everybody knows it. It's the best four star hotel in Gunma. Before we get there we'll pass a forest because the whole place is surrounded by forest." The driver was very cheerful as he told Suga and Yuki about the hotel.

"Surrounded by forest? Wow this is one extravagant place the president chose." Suga and Yuki looked at each other.

Ever since they started winning tournaments their president's choices have become successively more extravagant. From her choice of cars to her choice of uniforms and now even to her choice of hotels. However it's not something out of the boundaries of their budget. Not only is the school sponsoring their every activity but they're also capable of funding themselves to an extent because of tournament cash prizes, and some of the payments they received from commercials, interviews and other media related activity.

"What else is there?" Suga asked. Hopefully this driver can tell them more.

"Well, they have a ski resort there which is maintained so that it's still usable even if it's not winter."

"I don't know how to ski…" Yuki frowned.

"Well there are a lot of other features the place offers. Karaoke bars, tennis courts, bars ooh they sell the best Tacos there."

"Tacos?!" Without realizing it, the driver managed to peak Yuki's interest. Upon hearing the word 'Tacos' her ears waggled like an excited puppy.

"Oh yes. I was asked to stay there once as a service to one rich family and I was treated to some of them delicious Tacos." The driver continued.

"Really?! Please get us there fast!" Yuki leaned on the back of the driver's seat to persuade the driver to drive faster.

"Now you've done it mister…" Suga sighed. He knew that nobody can snap Yuki out of this Taco trance once she gets into it.

"Don't worry, I am the fastest driver in Gunma!" The driver flashed a thumbs-up behind him before stepping on the gas. True enough they arrived in the hotel in record time. Before they arrived there they were treated to some beautiful forest greenery like no other.

"How much will the fare be mister?" Suga took out his wallet. As the club's acting care taker he had lots of money that came from the club's budget.

"Well that will be… two thousand and seven hundred yen." The good driver looked at his meter and honestly told the students his price.

"Here you go please keep the change." Suga felt that the man deserved some reward for getting them there safe. He gave him three thousand yen.

First impression of the place was that it was breathtaking. The hotel's façade could already be seen even from far away hidden by the forest thick bushes and tall trees. Up close its colossal structure is a marvel of engineering. In front of the hotel there was a small fountain and a stone monument to greet guests.

"Hwoah!" Suga felt astounded simply by the size of everything.

"Let's go in!" Yuki happily led the way inside. They were greeted by bellboys and hotel clerks.

"Good morning ma'am and sir how may I help you?" The desk clerk greeted them as they approached the lobby.

"We have a reservation here for use for the next three days." Suga replied.

"On whose name sir?" The desk clerk asked.

"It was a reservation made by our president Takei Hisa."

"One moment please."

The woman checked her computer for records of the reservation.

"Ah, here it is. Wow you people rented so many rooms. An initial count of twenty-six rooms and a change made earlier today for a request adding another two rooms. What are you people having?" The clerk look rather surprised. Even company and firms that go there for filming or as a venue do not reserve that many rooms.

"We will be having our joint training camp here." Suga chuckled. He wondered how much the president spent for all of these.

"Six deluxe rooms for two people each, usually called our romantic suite, seventeen rooms with twin queen sized beds good for four people each and one room good for one. There's a note here saying that it's absolutely a must that one of the rooms good for two is given to a certain pair of Miyanaga Saki and Miyanaga Teru." The desk clerk read that out in front of Suga.

"Eh? Why would the president put that in special notice." Suga wondered.

"I don't know sir. But that's what written here. Anyway all the rooms are good for use already. Here's your room." The clerk replied while handing Suga his own key.

"Oh thank you."

"Your room is the room good for one."

"E-Eh?!" Suga gasped aloud with a disappointed tone. He knew and saw this coming but he can't help but feel disappointed by this every time. It's the big price of being the only man in a girl dominated mahjong club.

"Ne, neh miss where's your Taco bar?!" The petite and energetic girl rushed to the desk with hopeful eyes set on the desk clerk.

"T-Taco bar? Ah, I know there's one in the main buffet and dining area." The desk clerk was surprised for a while.

"Let's go there now doggy!" She called to Suga as she would call to a pet dog.

"I'm not your dog you little squirt!" Suga retaliated as he followed the little girl to that area.

The dining and buffet area was not near the lobby as it was located further inside the hotel complex. On the way there, these two students saw expensive features that everybody was sure to make use of later. Examples of these are: indoor swimming pools, outdoor swimming pools, an onsen, karaoke bars, vending machines, computer shops, and souvenir and gift shops. There surely were more but the route they took was not truly the scenic route.

"Ne, Yuki…" Kyoutarou called unto the excited girl in front of him.

"Hmm? I'm not treating you to some Tacos!" Yuki crossed her arms on her chest with a selfish look on her face.

"You can keep your Tacos… why do you think the president specifically chose Saki and Teru to be paired in one room?" Suga asked. He was rather curious. Saki is his close friend but she never really told him anything about her family so he didn't know the relationship between the two girls.

"Isn't it because they're both aces?" Yuki stopped to match Suga's speed in order to walk side by side with him so they can talk about this rather interesting topic.

"That's rather a convenient reason but I've been wondering… do you think it's just a coincidence that Saki and Teru have the same last name?" Suga asked. It has been bothering him much until now.

"Well… I have not really thought about it but I heard rumors about that too. Nodoka-chan would know let's ask her later." Yuki suggested. Unfortunately she wasn't with the group when this rather sensitive topic was raised. The only people that truly heard this were: Yumi and Momoko from Tsuruga; Mihoko from Kazekoshi; Touka and Koromo from Ryuumonbochi; Nodoka and Hisa from Kiyosumi.

"Speaking of which we have an email from Nodoka." Suga took out his mobile phone which vibrated inside his right pocket. It's to his bliss that he has the numbers of many beautiful girls even if it's only because of club activities.

"Eh? What did she write?" Yuki leaned close to Suga to see what her best friend wrote.

"She's asking where we should meet. I guess we'll tell her to come to the dining area of the hotel." Suga imagined that the best place to meet was the place he and Yuki were going to. They're fortunate enough that there was nothing special with the date so nobody was using the hotel which means they're not going to have a hard time finding each other.

"Yeah! I'm going to buy her some Tacos!" Yuki felt generous to share with her friend her beloved Tacos. There are very few people she wants to share with and that's with either with Saki or Nodoka.

"Hey aren't you that little squirt?!" Someone said this aloud from behind them as they neared the dining area.

"Eh? Bean pole you're here too?!" Yuki was surprised to see a green haired tomboy behind them.

The girl who called out to them was Jun Inoue, the vanguard of Ryuumonbochi High. It was not only Jun who was there but also the petite Hajime Kunihiro who was wearing yet another set of highly seductive clothes, the girl named Tomoki Sawamura who was wearing glasses, Touka Ryuumonbochi the president of the group and of course the ace Amae Koromo.

"Be more respectful of your elders! If you're here then that means the entire of Kiyosumi is also here?"

Jun wondered. She looked around her but it was only the two of them there.

"No? W-Wait don't tell me that two of you eloped?!" Jun gasped

"I keep telling people no but why is it that they keep saying that…" Suga was in the verge of giving up as he gave a sigh of despair.

"We will be having our training camp here! Why are you guys here?" Yuki returned the question.

"We're on a vacation. After all the tournaments we had I think it's only right to take a break right?" Jun replied.

"Yuki!" Amae who was already pretty close to all Kiyosumi members dashed to the Taco eating Capybara.

"I don't think children are allowed to run in these corridors." Yuki looked almost serious when she said this.

"Are Nonoka and Saki coming?" She asked very excitedly. Koromo is very close to Saki and Nodoka since they were the two people that really understood her outside her circle.

"Yes! And a bunch of other people too!" Yuki nodded.

"Isn't it a bit rude to call your teammates as 'other' people?" Hajime approached and joined in on the conversation.

"No, I wasn't talking about the president and Mako-sempai I was talking about our partner school for this training camp." Yuki waved her head and explained.

"Partner school? Might it be Tsuruga?" Touka asked. It's understandable that she thought it was Tsuruga because there were only three schools in Nagano that Kiyosumi is heavily affiliated with: Tsuruga, Kazekoshi and Ryuumonbochi.

"Nope, we already trained with them a few weeks ago. I don't think it'd be right to call and bother them." Suga replied.

"Kazekoshi?" This time it was Tomoki who took her chance to guess.

"Nope. This time we're having a team outside Nagano to train with us." Yuki waved her head again. She was enjoying making them guess.

"Ah, then it's that school from Nara. Achiga isn't it?" Hajime took a shot. She remembered that Achiga and Kiyosumi had one member that bounds them together and that's Haramura Nodoka.

"Nope!" Yuki replied and waved her head again. Although this is an outdated information because just this morning Achiga entered the training camp without her knowledge.

"We're out of guesses. Spill it out already!" Jun started shaking the younger girl by her shoulders to force her to confess.

"It's with Shiraitodai! S-Stop shaking me!" Yuki finally confessed as she started swaying dizzily.

"W-What?! Shiraitodai?!" Touka's eyes widened as she heard the name of that famous school that monopolized the championships of many tournaments the past two years.

"Yes. I'm not sure how the president got in touch with them but that's how it is." Suga interrupted.

"W-Why… why…" Touka started trembling on her feet.

"T-Touka?" Hajime approached Touka worriedly and placed one hand around the trembling girl's arm.

"W-Why wasn't Ryuumonbochi invited to such a gathering!?" Touka shouted. She looked really pissed as she imagined Nodoka playing with other powerful members of Shiraitodai.

"Well I…"

"I get it! This is another plot by Haramura to stand out more than me! I won't let it happen!" Touka snapped her fingers and in an instant a man in a suit appeared beside her.

"Yes?" Said the butler who bowed his head beside Touka.

"I want you to extend our stay here. We will be participating in this merry venture!" Touka commanded.

"As you wish my lady!" The butler disappeared as fast as he appeared.

"Eh? You can't just. Hey that's my mobile phone!" Suga noticed that his phone was already inside Touka's hand before he could protest. With it, she called the first number on Suga's history.

"Hello, this is Kiyosumi's president am I right?" Touka asked.

"Yes, wait this is Suga's phone who are you?" The mobile phone speakers were set rather loudly so some others could hear the girl from the other end of the line speak.

"This is Ryuumonbochi Touka, were joining your training camp."

"Ah…"

A smack was heard from the other end of the line. It sounded like someone hitting her own forehead with her palm.

"I should've known you'd be somewhere like that place." The girl replied rather comically.

"So is there a problem with our entry on your training camp?" Touka asked again.

"No, I guess its okay. Since another school decided to join in before you anyway. Might as well make it an even four no?" The girl replied.

"Great. Would you need us to do anything?" Touka asked. She didn't want to feel as if she just forced her way in so she wanted to help.

"Well it would do us great if you already had your own rooms."

"That's already taken care of. Anything else?"

"Hmm… well there is something else." The girl on the phone sounded like she was ready to take advantage of Touka's offer.

"Just ask. Anything at all." Touka replied and encouraged the other girl not to be shy asking.

"I'll take you up on that offer but it's something rather sensitive for a chat on the phone. Let's talk when we get there." The president of Kiyosumi replied.

"I see, Touka nodded as if she was in front of the girl she's talking to." Just like that the conversation is over and Suga got his mobile phone back.

"I guess there will be three of us then." Suga narrowed his eyes on the president of Ryuumonbochi. It's turning out to become similar to their previous training camp before the nationals even began.

"No, your president said there will be another. So that makes four." Touka replied.

"Well it's really going to be merry tonight." Suga felt happy at first but then he remembered that he will probably get singled out again later.

"Since we're already in on this why don't you allow us to treat you to something nice?" Touka asked with a gentle smile to the two Kiyosumi Mahjong Club Members.

"Treat me to the Tacos here!" Yuki was quick to jump on the offer.

"Don't you ever eat anything else other than Tacos?" June criticized. She remembered how they first met in the match and how bad that first meeting was.

"Shut up bean pole you still owe me!" Yuki remembered too.

* * *

Meanwhile in Shiga prefecture some people just arrived to meet with their coach Harue Akado. The full team of Achiga was very happy to meet with their coach, Shizuno and Arata who stayed in that hotel last night. However they didn't take their time to get off the van they were on for the three outside were already packed and seemed like they were in a hurry.

"Coach! Shizuno! Arata-chan! Where have you been?!" Ako Atarashi asked. She was the most worried amongst them all.

"Things led to things." Harue replied vaguely.

"Yes… Shizuno was the cause of it all." Arata pointed at the girl who insisted with joining the search yesterday.

"Eh? I couldn't help it!" Shizuno quickly defended herself from that allegation.

"Couldn't help it?" Arata showed one of her rare smiles as if she just trapped Shizuno.

"Y-You anyway at least I know for one that you enjoyed sleeping with Akado-san last night!" Shizuno retaliated.

"Calm down, calm down. The training camp will begin soon; in fact we're already late so we should hurry. Saki and Hisa left twenty minutes ago." Akado encouraged the team to hurry up so without further delay the three joined the others in the van.

Inside the van where they could talk freely the girls started chatting again while Akado greeted and thanked her professional friend for taking her members there.

"So Shizu what happened?" Ako asked. She wondered what was so important that they were caught up and unable to return to Achiga.

"We visited Akado-san's former coach." Shizuno replied happily.

"The kind old lady?" Kuro interrupted. She too was familiar of that woman.

"Hey, calling someone old isn't actually polite." Akado who was very close with her former coach gently scolded Kuro.

"S-Sorry."

"Also, Shizuno learned that her crush was selected as a star for an upcoming short film and decided to take the detour to watch." Arata interrupted with an indifferent look on her face.

"A-Arata!" Shizuno shouted in protest.

"Eh? Miyanaga-san is starring in a film?! T-That is a big break for mahjong players everywhere!" Ako felt rather proud that someone who is a mahjong player is climbing to the top of another field.

"Y-Yes too bad we didn't get to watch the filming." Shizuno sighed.

"Eh? What did you go there for?" Kuro was surprised to learn that they failed to watch what they came for.

Shizuno and Arata explained what happened. They did their best to describe everything in a series of events but omitted the part where Teru got drunk because they felt that it would be a very sensitive topic to tackle, especially since they will be meeting that girl again today.

"Sensei, how did you suddenly get in touch with Shiraitodai?" Ako asked Harue who was sitting beside the driver in the passenger's seat.

"It was originally a training camp for Shiraitodai and Kiyosumi but they were kind enough to let us in…" Akado replied happily.

"_More like you forced yourself in._" Arata said this to herself. She knew her coach slash most admired person really well.

"But really that was a rather eventful night. It's not every day that you learn that the two best high-school mahjong players are actually sisters." Akado said this happy-go-luckily.

"S-Sisters?!" The four people, including the driver, gasped. Even the usually silent Yuu Matsumi looked really shocked and almost raised her voice.

"That's why we tried to omit that part in our explanation…" Arata sighed. She and Shizuno agreed not to talk about it but they forgot how careless Harue can be.

"Well I guess their surnames are similar for a reason." Ako was still surprised but she already suspected as much from the beginning.

"So that answers the question how Kiyosumi and Shiraitodai managed to get in hold of each other." Kuro at first didn't think it was normal for the two rival schools like Kiyosumi and Shiraitodai to create such a joint venture. If you, a king, gets dethroned, you won't suddenly ask the person who took over your position to help you get better.

"B-But didn't Teru Miyanaga specifically said that she had no sister awhile back?" Yuu Matsumi interrupted. She remembered watching a press interview of the previous champion.

"Yes… I remember that but… maybe something happened in the past that…"

"Stop!"

Everybody was surprised to hear Shizuno suddenly shout. They all turned to her to see her serious and determined face.

"Let's not talk about that." Shizuno said this firmly as she turned a rather stern face to everybody.

"S-Shizu, we're sorry…" Ako immediately realized that they trended on thin ice. She knew that Shizuno was right. It wasn't proper to make speculations about others behind their backs.

Beside the driver's seat Akado could only smile as she stole glances of her members using the rear-view mirror. She was glad to see that they growing properly both in mahjong and in how they lived. In a way she was proud of Shizuno for stepping forward like that to stop her own teammates. Shizuno herself looked like she was deep in thought. Was she thinking about the training camp? Or did the topic just now gave her something to ponder about?

* * *

Eleven o'clock near afternoon the other main participant of the training camp are nearing their destination. In small bus were the non-regular members of the mahjong club while the playing members were in a van.

"I'm glad that you're fine after all that Teru-sempai." Awaii Oohoshi said this after listening to Sumire on what happened the day before.

"You should always bring a map with you and write important details down. Geez you're our president you need to be more careful." Sumire started to scold her friend.

"Uh… Sumire…" A girl with short hair whose name was Seiko Matano tapped Sumire by her shoulder as she continued.

"You're not only our president but you're also our ace. You're the face of our school so you shouldn't be caught doing such irresponsible stuff." Sumire continued while ignoring Seiko's taps.

"Uh… Sumire…" Seiko continued to tap her senior's shoulder.

"Also…"

"Sumire…"

"What?!" Sumire finally gave in to Seiko's nudges and turned to the girl.

"Look…" Seiko pointed to a pink haired girl who's currently hugging a pair of socks mindlessly as if she didn't hear anything Sumire said.

"What are you doing you idiot?!" Sumire shouted. She was shocked and annoyed to find her captain in such a pitiful state.

"Sumire look I manage to keep one pair." Teru turned to Sumire with a face filled with bliss as she showed Sumire the pair of used socks she was holding in each of her hands.

"Y-You! I won't even ask how or whose that is but can you please keep that?!" Sumire shouted.

"Eh? Isn't that Saki-san's socks?" Oohoshi Awaii recognized the pair of socks in Teru's possession.

"Eh?! How did you know?!" Sumire was surprised to hear that from Oohoshi.

"Me and Saki-chan have been best friends since we were little kids."

Awaii replied as she approached Teru.

"May I touch them too Teru-sempai?!" Awaii asked this almost beggingly.

"No!" Teru kept the items close to her chest and turned away like a little girl.

"E-Eh?! Don't be selfish!" Awaii chased Teru who moved to another seat.

"_Saki… how scary you can be. You're destroying our team without even picking up a damn tile._" Sumire groaned. She felt like a mother having to babysit obsessive little girls in one room.

"Vice President, I have some report you might want to hear." The lieutenant of their team whose name was Takami Shibuya approached Sumire with a notebook in hand.

"I see… come with me…"

Sumire dragged Takami to the back of the van while carefully dodging Teru's attention… not like she needed to since that girl was busy with the socks in her hand that she was treating like the best Christmas gift ever. Awaii too didn't notice them since she was busy playing tag with Teru for the socks and even Seiko was busy trying to calm them down.

"I assume that this is about what I asked you?" Sumire asked.

"Yes, and I've confirmed it. They're planning something." Takami nodded in reply.

"Do you know what is it they plan?" Sumire continued to ask. Knowing that the people they had on surveillance had something in plan wasn't enough.

"Right now all we know that each member of their group has a little camera on her dress. Some placed their camera on their ribbon, some in front of their chest pockets and even some around their belts." Takami explained.

"I see… from that arrangement I think I have an idea on their plans but I can't be sure yet." Sumire had her hand on her chin as she deducted an idea from what Takami gave her.

"I have already planted a spy inside their group. I will meet with her later when we arrive in the meeting place." Takami replied and tried to assure Sumire that everything is under control.

"We need to handle everything carefully. We don't want those idiots to cause irreparable damage." Sumire clicked her tongue. In one way she felt guilty that she wasn't able to guide their members properly that they were doing something like this.

"If that's all about this, I want to ask about the activities planned for the camp that the other president suggested."

"Yes what about it?" Sumire wondered what Takami noticed that she suddenly wants to talk about.

"Day one: a game of 'Kings Game' between the regulars of the two schools."

"Pfft! Krkh!" Sumire coughed. She remembered what the training camp was for and the activities that both she and Hisa planned. All of a sudden the activities don't seem appropriate since the two sisters have reconciled already.

"Day two: test of courage in the forest around the hotel." Takami continued.

"…" At this point Sumire's face was completely covered by her own shadow of despair. If this training camp was done three days before, that would be a perfect activity but now that Teru's like this it's like pushing the two teams in a black hole of scandal.

"Day three: a game of twister between-…."

"E-Enough!" Sumire said this aloud. She knew then that she had to talk to the other person, who planned this together with her.

Sumire took out her phone and immediately looked for Hisa's number. She couldn't handle this alone and felt that she was about to break down.

"Hello… Touka is this you again?" A girl answered from the other side of the line. It was Hisa but to Sumire's surprise the girl uttered another person's name who she was not very familiar off.

"No this is Sumire!" Sumire almost shouted. She was already frustrated.

"Sumire? Eh? Do you miss me already?" The girl jokingly asked then chuckled.

"Don't joke with me now you idiot! I think we have to change our activities!" Sumire suggested. She was getting annoyed on how Hisa kept treating her from time to time.

"I understand your point even before you explain but with Achiga and Ryuumonbochi joining in I don't think it's still an option to change." The girl on the other line replied.

"What?! Ryuumonbochi is joining in?" Sumire held her forehead as if she was suffering from a strong migraine. With that an entire change of activities would be impossible because planning everything again would be an enormous task.

"Sorry Sumire, apparently their team is having a vacation there; we can't turn them down now."

"I guess… as long as there are no people from the press coming I guess we can handle this." Sumire tried to calm herself down and told herself that everything will be alright.

"Hey just one sniff sempai!" Awaii was now leaning over Teru as she tries her best to reach the socks in Teru's hands who was raising them while leaning away to keep them out of Awaii's reach.

"No go smell Sumire's socks or something!" Teru shouted.

"No! Besides that would smell like old woman smell or…" Before the two could continue they felt the atmosphere changed drastically dreadful as they felt sharp chills get sent to their spines. The two of them slowly and hesitantly turned to look at the source of that killer intent as they paused.

"I'm going to kill you two…"

"Eek!"

"Eek!"

The voices of two maidens erupted from inside the van as the tendrils of despair burst out of the van's windows.

Twelve o'clock in the afternoon Kyoutarou Suga received another call while he served as Yuki's guardian who was enjoying the free Tacos Touka bought for her.

"Hello," Suga answered his phone without checking whose name it was.

"Suga-kun we're in front of the place. Can you fetch me and my father?" It was Nodoka on the other end of the line. She finally arrived in the place after getting lost a couple of times because her father did not know the way to the place initially.

"O-Oh? Sure!" Suga felt a little happiness that Nodoka was counting on him. It was also a little blissful that he was going to meet Nodoka's father. He found the thought that she was introducing him to her father rather fascinating and somewhat arousing.

"Who is it this time?" Yuki turned to Suga before finishing another Taco.

"It's Nodoka. She's here. She asked me to fetch her." He replied.

"Haramura Nodoka? I'm coming with you. I want to see what she's planning!" Touka who felt that Nodoka is doing something to stand out more than she did decided for herself to come with Kyoutarou in meeting Nodoka in the lobby. Only Hajime went with Touka as her guardian while the other members of Ryuumonbochi stayed with Yuki in the dining area.

When the three of them arrived there they saw Nodoka with her father. Both of them had unexplainable worried looks as if they ran into some sort of trouble. Nodoka was hugging her precious Etopen, a penguin shaped stuff toy, loosely as she approached the group.

"Suga-kun is Saki already here?" This was Nodoka's first words after meeting with Suga. She looked both excited and yet nervous.

"No, she's with the president and Anetai-san. They're on their way here. They'll probably be here in an hour." Suga replied. He remembered how long it has been since he got in touch with Hisa.

"I- I see…" Nodoka's face turned sour upon hearing this.

"Haramura Nodoka! I won't let you standout alone on this training camp! Ryuumonbochi is joining in and I will finally show you who the real idol is!" Touka proudly challenged Nodoka as she usually always did before.

"… I'll be waiting here then…" Almost as if Nodoka didn't see Touka she sighed and sat on the couch in front of the lobby. The other people in front of her were puzzled with her reaction.

"Nodoka what's wrong?" Suga tried to ask his club mate.

"…" Like masters of the old era, Nodoka ignored the boy as her consciousness travelled somewhere else.

"N-Nodoka do you hear me?! I will beat you today! I swear it in the name of Ryuumonbochi!" Touka felt insulted that her challenge was ignored.

"Saki…" Nodoka muttered this name softly before letting out a soft and gentle sigh.

At this point Touka and Suga's face turned dark as they noticed a pinkish aura hover around Haramura Nodoka. They can see virtual manifestations of hearts float above her.

"W-What's this sensation?! What is this dangerous feeling?!" Touka muttered to herself with ever so much dread as she watched her rival.

"You must be friends of my daughter." Nodoka's father approached the three. Because he never participated in events Nodoka was in, this is the first time he will meet the three. The only people he really knew in Nodoka's circle were Yuki and Saki.

"M-My name is Touka Ryuumonbochi. I- I am Nodoka's rival in mahjong." Touka introduced herself to Nodoka's father. For some reason she felt unusually nervous when she would usually proudly present to herself to anybody.

"It's nice to meet you Nodoka's father." Hajime looked more composed than her master. She bowed politely.

"It's nice to meet you all too. Take care of my daughter for me." The father did not bother returning the bow and went back in the car. He looked like he was in a hurry.

"H-Have a safe trip home m-mister Haramura." Touka stuttered. She was acting like she was talking to the most important person in the planet.

"What's wrong Touka?" Hajime noticed Touka's unusual demeanor.

"N-Nothing." Touka lied.

The three of them were waving to Nodoka's father while the daughter herself was still slouching on the lobby couch.

"Nodoka-chan let's go to where Yuki is, she's waiting." Suga invited Nodoka to go to the dining area where Yuki is with some of the Ryuumonbochi members.

"I want to wait for Saki here. Please go on ahead." Nodoka replied weakly. She looked extremely troubled. Suga only looked at her for a moment and decided that he couldn't do anything for her. He nodded and walked away. Hajime was about to follow Suga but noticed that Touka wasn't moving an inch.

"Haramura Nodoka, you don't seem like yourself today." Touka tried to create a conversation with the looming Vice Captain.

"It's nothing… it's just that…"

"So you do have a problem. If it's something you can't tell me I can understand but I can't allow my rival to be this pathetic!"

Touka tried to encourage Nodoka. For some reason she felt annoyed seeing Nodoka in such a pitiful manner.

"Is it love problems?"

"It's not!" Nodoka replied ever so sharply at that comment. She had her hands in a fist on her chest as if she was in some sort of defensive stance

"Okay… okay you don't have to deny it that strongly."

Touka backed away a bit from the leaning Nodoka.

"If it's not love problems then is it financial problems? Although I don't expect a family of such prestige to have that kind of dilemma." Touka tried to guess some more on what's bothering her rival.

"No. Well actually something like that but my family is well-off. But…"

"But? Nodoka we're not teammates but don't think that I, Touka Ryuumonbochi, will leave her rival like this." Touka proudly offered to council Nodoka.

"I'm not your rival…"

Nodoka narrowed her eyes on Touka for a moment. Even though Touka looks at Nodoka as 'the person to beat' Nodoka never really shared that same feeling.

"But if you must know I guess it's something I can't hide forever. So…" It's true. One way or another after this training camp her life will completely change. It's not something she can keep to herself without anybody noticing. She explained her situation to the Ryuumonbochi heir and club president.

"E-Eh!?" Touka shouted.

"I would prefer it if you didn't shout like that." Nodoka narrowed her eyes on her so called rival. She feels doubtful if she did the right thing by telling Touka this problem.

"D-Do you already have someone in mind?" Touka asked. Even though her parents usually leave her and Koromo at least she has her own place to stay in. She can only imagine how Nodoka felt.

"Well…"

Nodoka avoided Touka's gaze as if she wanted to dodge the question.

"Saki is currently living alone so…" Nodoka hesitated to reply. It's not like her to be like this but for some reason she found the topic to be a little sensitive for her usual frankness.

"G-Gah!" Touka gasped. It's not what she wanted to hear at all.

"But… I don't know how to tell Saki. I- I don't want to be a burden…" Nodoka explained. Normally one would think that they're being helpful by staying with someone who's living alone but Nodoka is in a different situation. While Saki earns most of her living expenses by winning tournaments and participating in commercials and interviews Nodoka doesn't really have a source of income. Furthermore Saki seems quite fine living alone so the pink haired girl can't tell if joining her would be a minus or a plus.

"Then why don't you stay with me and work as my maid?!" Touka couldn't help herself and finally asked her rival.

"E-Eh?" Nodoka gasped. Touka has mentioned this before in the nationals that if she loses she is to work in the Ryuumonbochi mansion as a maid. That was a joke of course but Touka's current offer isn't.

"T-Touka! Y-You can't just say something like that!" Hajime protested. She's quite proud to be Touka's personal maid so this bothers her greatly.

"Why not? Koromo needs more playmates!" Touka faked a smirk at Hajime while using her step sister as an excuse.

"B-But Toukaaa!" Hajime stubbornly flailed her arms in protest hoping that Touka will take back her offer.

"So what do you say?" Touka ignored Hajime's protests and continued to persuade the big breasted vice-captain.

Nodoka paused and hugged her stuffed toy closer. She thought about the advantages of transferring into the Ryuumonbochi mansion. It's not too far from Kiyosumi and best of all she can earn her money by working as a maid.

"I'll think about it…" Nodoka replied rather weakly. Even with all the advantages serving as Touka's maid will give her she still can't put the other option aside.

"What's there to think about? It's the offer of a life time!" Touka felt impatient. This Ryuumonbochi president would always have dreams of having Haramura as her maid. In fact every time she gets the chance to stare at those wonderfully developed breasts she drools as she imagines them inside her chosen maid outfits.

"I'm sorry but-…." Nodoka understood that Touka just wanted to help. But she didn't want to make a sudden decision without talking to the person she cared the most.

For a moment Touka paused to look at Nodoka's hesitant and indecisive face. She knew then that more prodding might only lose her the chance of landing this big fish in her mansion.

"If you need time to think then I'll give you my number." Touka took out her phone to take Nodoka's mobile phone number.

"Thank you for your patience." Nodoka took out her own mobile phone and agreed to exchange emails with Touka.

"There, just email me when you decide."

" I will." Nodoka nodded. She did not know if she would ever use the number but she was glad that she had more options now. Whatever happens she was not going to go with her father to another prefecture.

In this training camp there were only two real options: to share her high-school life with Saki or to enjoy being a maid. She wanted to have both to some extent since she loved wearing maid costumes especially the mature looking ones.

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Next Chapter Preview:

"C-can someone explain the rules to me again?" Saki who was not familiar with this game asked her president nervously.

"The papers are numbered from one to twenty and the twenty-first paper has the word 'king' on it. Whoever held the king's paper can choose any number or multiple numbers to do his bidding." Hisa explained proudly with one point finger raised up as if she was imitating a teacher.

"The orders of the kings are absolute. The only defense everybody has against the king is that he or she won't know their number and has to choose numbers in random. That way kings can't pick a favorite." Sumire took over and explained the remaining rule.

"W-Wait does that include any erotic stuff?" A certain pink-haired sister asked.

"… Yeah… even erotic stuff…" Sumire couldn't help but twitch in her captain's question.

"Let's start!"

"Uwoh!" Everybody shouted spiritedly.

"One, two, three who's the king?!" Everybody chanted as they drew folded pieces of paper from a basket in front of them.

"Alright! I'm the king!"

"No! Damn it!"

"Number seven, I order you to-…!"

Everybody gasped and blushed after hearing the order of the king. The victim of this order is more flustered than anyone. She wanted to beg off and run away but the king's guards are behind her to make sure that king's decree is given heed.

"The order of the king is absolute!" Demanded some people in the room.

"E-Eh?!" A loud shriek echoed that can be heard even outside the complex.


	7. Chapter 7

Love in Bloom

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disclaimer: I don't own any character nor do i profit from saki and her author's work

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Three hours, that's how long it has been since Nodoka arrived in the four star hotel. She should be mingling with the members of Ryuumonbochi in the dining area but instead she was by herself drinking an espresso on a table. Suga and Yuki were with the members of Ryuumonbochi and it was apparent that Yuki was enjoying Jun's company while Suga was having a nice and idle chat with Higeyoshi.

"Oi you lot, I'm here!" A new comer shouted to the group. It was from a megane woman happily waving to everybody. She was Kiyosumi's sergeant and a powerful mahjong player in her own right, Mako Someya.

"Eh? Mako-sempai? You're not with the president and Saki?" Nodoka was surprised to see Mako coming alone.

"Do I always have to be with Hisa?" Mako felt weird that people are already grouping her as an attachment to the club president. In more ways than one it's true that Hisa and Mako are seen almost always together when outside of school. However because of Hisa's and Sumire's plot for both teams they were generally apart for almost a month now.

Even though Mako's question invited much criticism, Nodoka didn't tease her for it and neither did she comment on it. Instead she silently sat back down looking rather depressed. Mako frowned a bit because it made her feel less welcome as she made her way to Yuki and the Ryuumonbochi club.

"What's with her? It's not exactly the right attitude to bring to a training camp." Mako asked and interrupted Yuki who was roughhousing with Jun like a little sister to an older and taller sister.

"I don't know, but Nodoka-chan has been on the edge since she got here." Yuki replied. This time she and Jun were pulling on each other's cheeks until their faces stretched like rubber pancakes. Surprisingly, she was able to give Mako a clear reply despite having her hands full.

"She has been asking for Saki since she got here." Suga interrupted. He just finished his chat with Higeyoshi which apparently was all about cooking. Higeyoshi was impressed with Suga's dedication to serving his team so this butler was very generous with sharing his knowledge to this poor simpleton who surprisingly hasn't disappeared from the face of this reality yet.

"Oh so it's that kind of problem, it's perfect then!" Mako has her hand on her chin as she flashed a mischievous grin. Mako was always the kind of person who was stimulated by these kinds of stuff. She's not the type who gossips about other's relationships but she enjoys watching people advance and 'trigger flags'.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Yuki who was naïve to these situations tilted her head in curiosity. Mako just shrugged and did not reply to Yuki's question because she didn't want to cause any rumours regarding Saki and Nodoka no matter how true it was.

"So you're joining too eh?" Mako diverted her attention to the members of Ryuumonbochi particularly to the girl wearing glasses just like her. The girl's name was Tomoki Sawamura, the sergeant for her school and club who matched Mako in the prefectural tournament for the national's selection.

"Sorry to cause you inconvenience." Tomoki bowed slightly. This was usually Hajime Kunihiro's job, the clean after Touka's mess, but Tomoki was lots closer to Mako than Hajime.

"I don't mind. I feel like this sort of thing is already a habit for both our teams anyway."

Mako replied as she scratched the back of her head. Before, she would complain a bit on how the training camp will become less serious with more people in it but she has practically given up on that matter. Frankly she was more surprised that Tsuruga and Kazekoshi hasn't sniffed them out and joined them yet.

"By the way what's wrong with her?" Mako turned to a girl who was biting her nails off while looking towards Nodoka's direction. It was the president of the other club and her name was Touka Ryuumonbochi. It was a rather interesting sight to see her look a bit frantic and Mako wondered what it was that was putting her on the edge.

"Touka, snap out of it already!" Hajime who considered herself to be Touka's personal maid tried to cheer her master up as she shook Touka's arm gently.

"Jiiii what is there to think about?! Hajime tell me honestly am I such a bad master?!" Touka started biting on her the lower end of her dress. She can't imagine on how someone can turn down such a fantastic offer.

"N-No, Touka is the best ever!" Hajime's personal opinion of Touka was rather biased. She tried being objective about it but found out that it might be disastrous so she decided on going with her own feelings anyway. Touka is a good friend but as a master she's rather a handful. Hajime remembered the number of times she has to clean Touka's messes and it's not something for an average maid. Let's not forget that Touka was only a quarter of the problem but there's also Koromo to think about. Hajime remembered how many maids have left due to weird things happening around Koromo especially during a full moon.

"Then why?!" To Hajime's surprise, Touka grabbed her collar then started shaking her vigorously like a bartender making a cocktail.

"I- I don't know, she probably wants to be with someone she knows more!" Hajime could not speak straight and even had to make an extension on 'know' because of Touka.

"So it would be that girl again?" Touka said this with an emphasis on 'that' which refers to a brown haired, clumsy and naïve girl who has yet to arrive in the hotel.

"Don't sound like Jun; it's rude to call people as 'that'." Hajime chastised her master.

"Ah… so it's related to Nodoka after all." Mako could only weakly smile after realizing the cause of everyone's troubles. She didn't recognize it as something big at first but after hearing some interesting phrases coming from the master and servant duo she's beginning to really wonder what Nodoka's problem was.

"They're here!" shouted the only man in both teams. Suga had a worried look on his face for the people that appeared were not the people related to him. They came from West Tokyo and rode from there on two buses and a van.

Both teams of Kiyosumi and Ryuumonbochi were silent as the van in front of the two busses opened its sliding door. From the van stepped out a girl with pink hair that garnered the respect of all mahjong players in the country. That girl was no other than Miyanaga Teru. She had a sharp gaze that spanned her surroundings as she descended from the van like a deity giving audience to her people.

"So that's Miyanaga Teru…" Jun, who only had the chance to finally see Teru up front bit her right thumb's nail as she felt the constantly radiating aura from the former champion.

"S-She's in a completely different level." Kunihiro Hajime too felt the difference between them just by looking at the strides of the older Miyanaga.

While some of the members of both teams are awestruck. Most of the members of Shiraitodai felt opposite of that. Most of the members have yet to realize that they're no longer the champions and still have that superiority complex as they looked down at the players from the opposite teams.

"Look at how these lowlifes look at us." One of the members who came from the second bus whispered to her friend beside her while looking at a green haired girl who was just observing the members of this bigger team.

"Yes, these pathetic-…!"

"Hold your tongues!" Sumire's stern voice interrupted the two in their conversation. They jolted in shock as if a gunshot was just fired beside them with a stunned look on their faces.

"The people you are bad mouthing are dozens of times better than you. Just because you're wearing the same designs of the uniforms we wore don't put your pretentious feet in our shoes." Awaii who was not usually vocal about these stuff joined Sumire in telling off their members.

After being told off by the regulars, the girls immediately quieted down only to keep their opinions to themselves. There were still some who were more vocal about their feelings particularly the president of a certain secret club dedicated to the president of their mahjong club.

"Why do I have to show a good face to these 'pretenders to the crown'?" Said the girl known to be 'Yuuko'.

"Sumire-sempai is right. We can't keep acting like the big-shots when we're not even the champions." Shoko, Yuuko's best friend, agreed with the judgement of her superiors and tried to chastise Yuuko.

"Why are you so supportive of these cheaters?!" Yuuko retaliated with a sneer.

Shoko did not reply anymore after that. She felt that anything she will say will only be wasted because her friend pretty much already chose her side. To some people persistence is something good but Shoko could only wish that her friend be less stubborn. She now fears that this way of thinking would have them expelled from the mahjong club sooner if not later.

Amongst the club members one was particularly excited. It's no other than the club president herself. Her head has been spanning around since she arrived in the scene hoping to see her beloved little sister. Instead she saw people she barely knew. Despite the fact that Ryuumonbochi have played in the nationals they haven't reached high enough to get the attention of the previous champions. Koromo herself managed to get the country's interest before but since her team itself couldn't go past the high levels of the nationals the two teams never crossed each other's paths.

After a couple of seconds searching, Teru noticed pink hair instead of brown hair. The girl she saw wasn't the girl she was looking for but a girl that might be able to help her.

"Excuse me, you are Haramura Nodoka right?" These were the first words Teru uttered to Nodoka. The girl that she considered her rival not in mahjong, heavens no, but in… well... something else.

Nodoka who didn't notice the arrival of that famous school just now turned to see an older version of Saki. At first her eyes widened in the thought that Saki finally arrived there before she came to her senses that it was someone else.

"A-Ah you are…" Nodoka felt a little bit in a panic. After all this girl was one of the girls she wanted to impress because of this girl's relationship to her friend.

"Miyanaga Teru."

Teru replied immediately to answer Nodoka's implied question.

"But of course you already knew that. Where's Saki?" It was almost obvious on how much uninterested Teru was with the pink-haired girl. It was apparent that she was only interested on information about her sister.

"Ah… umm… she hasn't arrived yet." The usually mind-strong Nodoka couldn't help but stutter a bit because of the presence of the girl in front of her. If this was mahjong related, then she wouldn't bat an eyelash but because Teru brought the topic about Saki up she felt her throat block a bit and almost choked.

"What?!"

Teru shouted this aloud that most of the people in the dining room turned to her. Some of the people gasped while some had surprised looks on their faces.

"Sumire!" Teru turned to the girl who was currently using her mobile phone.

"Hmm? Wait Teru I'm talking to ah-…!" Before Sumire could raise her hand to stop Teru, she felt herself lifted before her back met an unforgiving marble wall.

"I told you I should've stayed! Because of you my sister got kidnapped by underground yakuzas and sold into slavery!" Teru snarled at her long-blue-haired friend as she continued to pin her on the marble wall while cracks start to appear on that wall as pieces of marble begin to chip away from it.

"W-w-what the heck are you talking about?!" Sumire sincerely did not have any idea what Teru was being frantic about as she struggled to breath with Teru crushing on her diaphragm.

"Because I wasn't there, they got ambushed by the al-Qaeda and now my sister is probably drowning in a well somewhere!" Teru snarled as the column behind Sumire threatened to collapse.

"Since when did al-Qaeda infiltrate Japan?! Wait-… no, that's not the right question I should be asking…. What are you talking about Teru?! I'm talking with Hisa on the phone!"

"Hisa? Who's that? Your girlfriend?" Teru's face calmed down a bit while she continued to pin and strangle Sumire against the column.

"She's Kiyosumi's club president you idiot! What kind of short term memory do you have?!"

Sumire tried to shout but could only let out a small whimper as Teru's unforgiving hands began to tighten around her neck.

"His-Hisa, I chink my preshident wantsh a word wij you." Sumire could barely utter out sensible words to the girl on the other end of the phone. Without saying another word she used her trembling right hand to give her mobile-phone to Teru who hurriedly accepted it. She turned away from Sumire as she allowed her to drop on the floor to concentrate on the phone.

"Hello this is Teru, where's my sister?"

Teru went direct to her point without saying anything else before she could confirm Saki's situation.

"Ah, so you had to take a stop in a grocery store." Teru's face looked calmer now after hearing Hisa's explanation from the opposite side.

"See! Stop making silly assumptions with your overzealous brain!" Sumire was still gasping for breath as she said this.

"Ah, thank you, may I talk to my sister? What? She's currently using the bathroom in the grocery store? I see. Please continue taking care of her." Teru had a gentle smile on her face as if a huge burden was just lifted off her.

"Well now that clears that can I-…!"

"By the way you're Sumire's girlfriend right?" Sumire's eyes shot wide open as she heard Teru ask this unexpected question to the other girl.

"W-What are you suddenly asking?!" Sumire dashed beside Teru who raised her left hand and pushed on Sumire's face to keep her away.

"Ahaha I thought so!" Teru chuckled then smiled.

"What do you mean 'I thought so'? What did that idiot say?!" Sumire was now curious on what Hisa said on the phone.

"Yes, thank you again and please make sure she gets here safe. Bye." Teru politely said her farewell to Hisa on the phone and placed the mobile-phone in her pocket.

"H-Hey Teru, what did she say?! And where are you taking my phone?!" Sumire tried to catch up with her president who started walking away to the direction of a buffet stand.

"I'm confiscating it." Teru continued to calmly walk away without even turning to Sumire who was dragging beside her. The big breasted girl who was able to witness everything could only follow the two with her eyes as her mouth remained open in wonder about what she just saw.

"I- I guess from that conversation it means that they've reconciled." Nodoka could still smile despite the awkward interaction she witnessed just seconds ago. She was perplexed to say anything more but at the very least this distracted her from the decision she has to make later.

Meanwhile, the person who considers herself to be the vice-president (incoming president next year) of the Kiyosumi Mahjong Club felt the need to step forward and greet their training camp partner. Without Hisa to do this she felt discomfort and nervousness to take the responsibility unto herself to do honours. What's more is that the president of Shiraitodai and the girl she perceived to be the secretary are having their own conversation in which the president doesn't seem to give a damn as she walked casually over the place.

"E-Excuse me, I'm supposed to be the vice-president of the club without our president please let me greet you in our team's behalf. I apologize that my president isn't here yet." Mako attempted to interrupt Sumire from her squabbles with Teru in demands to get her phone back.

"Teru my phone give it-… oh I'm sorry, I'm Sumire Hirose."

Sumire was blushing a little to have shown this rather 'unrefined' act in front of a member of another team.

"Teru!" Sumire glanced at Teru as gesture to have her greet the green haired glasses girl back.

"Greetings, I'm Teru Miyanaga. I've already talked to your president on the phone. Please don't worry about it." After that talk with Hisa, Teru's now calmer and more composed knowing that her sister is fine. It's now back to normal programming, the kind of Teru that everyone in the mahjong world knew, feared and loved.

"Really? I wish she'd inform us before hand…." Mako felt a little sad that someone else knew about Hisa before she did when she's supposed to be the closest to her.

"If that's all then Sumire and I and the rest of the Shiraitodai club are honoured to meet the champions." Teru flashed a sincere smile at the glasses girl in front of her. Now that she's calm and composed she feels interested about her sister's teammates. These people are the people who helped Saki change her point of view about mahjong and allowed her to enjoy the game. Teru felt privileged to know and talk to these people and wanted to know them more.

"N-No it's actually our pleasure." Mako humbly returned the compliment. She found it hard to act her usual self in front of this huge celebrity. More than that, some members of the Shiraitodai club are gawking at her like she was an animal in the zoo.

"I've met your president but we never really had the chance to talk together. I hope she arrives soon, her girlfriend is waiting patiently for her." Teru gestured and pointed to the girl not too far behind her.

"Just die already!" Sumire who could no longer bare it swung her hand at her president only to fall off balance because Teru ducked in a nonchalant manner while still smiling at Mako who could just whimper in front of the two.

Mako who just met Teru personally could not properly see Saki in the older sister. Simply put, Teru looks giddier than her younger sister right now because of reasons Mako was oblivious to. However she feels a little lighter after seeing this. Truth be told she felt rather suffocated before thinking how she should act in front of the ex-champion, but after seeing her like that she felt relieved.

"Is that Kiyosumi's president?" Yuuko asked no one in particular. She immediately assumed that Mako was the person in charge of Kiyosumi for she was the person who approached Teru first.

"No, I heard that their president is the girl called Takei Hisa." Shoko corrected her friend. Unlike Yuuko, Shoko took her time to research about the girls in the other team. This is not because of the 'TTT' fan-club but rather for her own knowledge to be used on matches and tournaments.

"I should've known… but I don't see that 'Miyanaga Saki' anywhere." Yuuko was looking around for the brown-haired ace of Kiyosumi but was disappointed to see no one matching that description. Since she wasn't in the regular's van she wasn't informed about what happened the day before.

"I didn't see any other van or bus outside other than ours so I guess it's alright to assume that they individually took their own rides going here." Shoko looked back in the direction of the parking lot. Their rides unloaded them in front of the hotel but from there a part of the parking area was visible from where she stood.

"Or maybe they're just hiding that cheater so we can't properly prosecute her." Yuuko frowned but not before so brazenly putting her hands on her waist. Once again Shoko could only sigh while admiring the remarkable stubbornness of her friend.

"Don't let one of the regulars hear you… we might get in trouble." Shoko nervously glanced at the regular who was nearest to them, Awaii.

"When the teams begin playing mahjong I will give the signal and in that time I want everyone in the TTT to have their hidden cameras ready and properly placed. Everyone must be evenly spread out to get every angle and make sure that we catch that cheating cat in the act." Yuuko looked extremely confident that her efforts will produce evidences that will support her accusations.

"I am not sure we will have that opportunity but okay… I'll inform the others." It hurts Shoko to go with her friend's plan even while knowing that it was childish and completely based on blind obsession towards the senior they both admired. She looked at the small camera hidden in her blouse's front pocket with a frown. That camera was only as big as a small pin but it was supposed to be capable of recording at least two hours' worth of footage.

A few minutes ago out in the open road, the group of people many were waiting for are still on their way. They are currently in a small department store for a stop-over to refuel their stomachs and their vehicle.

"Don't worry she's fine. She's just using the toilet. Sorry if we're taking long. We had to make a stop over." Hisa sounded a little apologetic talking to someone on the phone.

"President, who's that on the phone?" Toyone who was holding a small carton of orange juice packets branded 'gay-to-raid' asked. Hisa replied by gently raising her hand with an open palm as a gesture for Toyone to wait a bit as she could not be bothered that moment.

"Ahaha, yes, yes she is. Don't worry; I'll make sure to get her there safe. I'm the club president after all." Hisa said this rather cheerfully while a small paint of pink is visible across her were the last words she said before hanging up.

"You sounded rather busy, was it Someya-san?" Toyone asked curiously as she handed the cartons to their driver who loaded the juices in the back of their vehicle.

"No it was the president of Shiraitodai." Hisa waved her head. She didn't see any reason to hide the identity of the girl she was speaking to.

"Miyanaga Teru?" Toyone had a visible frown stretching across her face after hearing that name from Hisa.

"Eh? You don't seem happy." Hisa felt a little bothered that one of her members isn't keen with Miyanaga Teru.

"Well… I just think it's wicked that she did all those things to her little sister." Teru said this in a low tone careful not to raise her voice.

"Yeah, she shouldn't have touched Saki and being drunk was not a good excuse either." Hisa said this with her thumb on her chin while nodding.

"N-Not that! W-Well okay, that too but I meant before that! The part where she abandoned Saki and denied that she was her sister." Toyone quickly flustered after remembering what happened last night and did her best to push the conversation back on track.

"Ah… that…"

Hisa sounded a little disinclined to talk about that matter.

"I don't know her reasons for doing what she did but we all have our flaws. I don't think its right for us to judge her only because of that." Hisa never talked about the whole thing to Saki so she was completely ignorant as to what happened between the two sisters. However, the whole thing was something not even Saki was completely clear about. It was only Teru who knew her own motivations for doing what she did.

"Only that?!"

Toyone sounded rather disappointed. To her, classifying Teru's actions as 'only that' was an understatement that should not be overlooked.

"Because of her Miyanaga-san is currently living alone!" Toyone remembered Saki's house which looked too big for one single girl to live in alone. Let alone that girl is a naïve girl who was easy to get lost.

"Actually that's more of her dad's fault because he needed to work abroad." Hisa twiddled her finger as she corrected Toyone.

"Yes but Teru could've taken her sister in! If it wasn't for her selfish-…!"

"Saki's dad's departure was off the blue. There was no way Teru nor their mom could've worked everything out immediately just after the man left. Besides… I don't want to sound selfish but if that happened it'd be sad for me because I don't want my member to leave the club either." Hisa guiltily scratched her left cheek. She knows that it was selfish to be thankful that Saki was still studying in Kiyosumi even if she had to live alone.

"Sometimes I wonder if Miyanaga Teru even knows that Saki is currently living alone." This was a good point that Toyone brought up. It was unthinkable that such a big event as the father leaving oversees for work would be overlooked by the Miyanaga household. It should be fairly obvious that Saki's dad should've contacted his wife about such a decision. However, what exactly happened between the two parents? Is it possible that there was such a big fracture in between them that the husband didn't even inform his wife about his decision? Do they even keep in touch?

"Hmm, you could be on to something."

Hisa remembered how attached Teru was to Saki when they 'made up'. She remembered on how Teru wanted to stay in the hotel to look after Saki and even called her just now to see if she was safe. If Teru was really this caring then it should be obvious that the first thing she will do after making up was to drag the little sister who was living alone back home. There are two logical reasons Hisa was thinking of on why Teru did not do that and that's: one she simply didn't think that Saki would accept her offer or two that she didn't know at all. Personally for Hisa, it was sad if it was the second one.

"Whatever the case I think it should be fine now that they've made up." Hisa clasped her hands and made a soft 'whacking sound' with them. Hisa, though always careful, was always optimistic, always looking at the brighter side.

"I don't think it should be alright that she should be forgiven so easily." Toyone had a serious and melancholic look on her face. Hisa tilted her head to get a better look at her member who made a surprising remark just now.

"Toyone, you've been all about Saki recently, do you like her?"

"Fuweh!" The question was an unexpected round house kick to Toyone that jarred her brains like a pickle in a jar placed on top of a working blender. This girl has never experienced such intense nervousness before that surpassed that one she had back in the nationals.

"Well?" Hisa moved her face closer to Toyone and since the newer member is a lot taller she had to go on tip-toes to do this.

"O-Of course I like her! She's my friend now and I'm just worried that she'll experience that horrible feeling again." Toyone had a clenched fist on her chest as if to grab her rapidly beating heart as Hisa continued to interrogate her.

"The friend route excuse, how boring… that's a cliché." Hisa waved her hand lazily.

"But it's the truth!" Toyone shook her hands as if those flailing gestures meant something.

"What's the truth?" A third voice interrupted them.

"Hoeh?!" Toyone almost leaped back in surprise. In front of them was someone whom Toyone was not familiar about. However, Hisa on the other hand was not a stranger to the new girl.

"Oh, isn't this a surprise. You're the last person I'd think about meeting here." Hisa, though surprised, greeted the new girl cheerfully.

"My team is having a training camp!" Replied the girl.

"H-Hey, don't tell me it's going to be in 'Karuizawa Hotel 1130' as well." Hisa shivered thinking that another team will be joining their supposedly 'joint venture' and if that was the case then their plan has completely been blown off course.

"Ha? No way, that hotel is too expensive." The girl waved her head.

"Ah, Takei-san, who is she?" Toyone still didn't recognize the girl who interrupted them. Rather, she felt like she saw her before but she just couldn't tell who it was.

"You don't know her? You should since her team faced both us and your previous team last time in the nationals." Hisa slightly turned to Toyone and encouraged her to remember. Maroon hair and a cocky attitude that says 'I won't lose to anyone'. A girl that always have a confident smile and an intimidating look, the ace of Himematsu, Hiroe Atago.

"A…ta…go?"

Toyone took five seconds to investigate the girl's face.

"A-Ah! You're that girl from Himematsu!" Anetai finally recognized the girl who played as Himematsu's lieutenant.

"That girl?! Please, how can you forget the best player in the world?" Hiroe first looked insulted at first but quickly recovered.

"Best player? But I thought Miyanaga-san wa-…!" Before Toyone could finish speaking, Hisa's hand went up to her face and swiftly covered her mouth.

"Ahaha, never mind. Because you're going with your team, am I right to assume that you will be joining the upcoming international selection tournament?" Hisa asked. She was not truly interested if that girl was going to join in that competition but this was mostly as a diversion to change the topic. She knew how much Toyone revered their ace and she can tell that it was a rather big issue to Anetai that someone else is calling herself 'the best' despite Saki having triumphed in the individuals.

"Of course, my team may not have made it before but I assure you all the spots for the international team will be filled with ours." Hiroe said this almost blatantly challenging the other team-president.

"That's literally impossible because Miyanaga-san is already an automatic member of that team, so at least one of you will fall." Toyone managed to manoeuvre her head out of Hisa's control and said this.

"Eh?! I wasn't informed of that." Hiroe had a troubled look on her face because she sincerely didn't know about that fact.

"That's because you get too eager to participate and miss the important details." Yet another voice entered the conversation. The girl who this voice belongs too was not alone. Two girls approached the three: one of them had blue hair while the other who was speaking had purple.

"Suehara-san!" This time, Toyone immediately recognized the girl who spoke for she was the representative of Himematsu who fought in the captain's battle.

"It's nice to meet you again Anetai-san, please forgive our president." Kyouko Suehara, the girl who experienced fighting both Toyone and Saki in an official competition slightly bowed to apologize in behalf of their president's cocky disposition. She had an ice cream cone in one hand which was almost finished.

"If you're joining the internationals selection it means that we get the chance to play together again!" Toyone who enjoyed playing mahjong whoever she fought looked really happy. Kyouko uttered 'um!' and nodded.

"Are you two alone? When I saw both of you I thought the whole team of Kiyosumi is here." Hiroe spoke again this time while carefully looking around for anyone with the Kiyosumi uniform.

"No, we're also going on a training camp, majority of us have already gone ahead." Hisa explained.

"You're having a training camp with Miyamori High?" Kyouko asked and remembered that Toyone played for a school called Miyamori High.

"Actually…" Hisa found it hard to decide where to start.

"I play for Kiyosumi now, I transferred." Toyone replied. She thought that it would be best if she said this herself rather than let her president do it for her.

"H-Hwoah!" Kinue Atago, the blue haired girl who accompanied Kyouko Suehara gasped along with her two other teammates.

"No way, that has to be cheating! You already have the individual champion in your team and now you even have the Miyamori ace as well?" Kyouko's eyes were wide in shock to hear that the most powerful team currently has become even stronger in their team composition.

"What are you so worried about Kyouko? Himematsu still has me." The confidence Hiroe had when she said this was unbelievable. However it was only met with the discerning looks of her comrades.

"President, please don't forget that you're graduating this year and so am I." Kyouko sighed. She was a little embarrassed that her president is beginning to sound silly in front of this other team.

"D-Don't worry, I am sure that I will be fine." Kinue, the sister of Hiroe did not want her sister and Kyouko to worry about her said this.

"B-By the way, that girl already went ahead right?" Kyouko looked left and right first before she asked this. Upon entering the topic of 'powerful players' the image of a naïve, brown-haired girl came to her mind like lightning strike in the void of night.

"That girl? You mean Saki?" Hisa remembered that it was Saki who faced this purple haired girl so it was only logical that she was the person Kyouko knew most in their team and therefore was the one that girl was talking about.

"Yes." Kyouko nodded. She looked almost scared upon just the simple mention of the girl's name.

"Ac-…"

"I'm here." Before Hisa could reply, the voice of the person in question interrupted and joined in the conversation.

"A-Ack!" Kyouko gasped and almost leaped backward. She remembered the frightening moments when she faced this girl who's now in front of her carrying a bag of Pretzel.

"Suehara-san! It's nice to finally meet you again." Saki just recognized who it was that her teammates were talking to.

"Y-Yes, it's nice to meet you too." This wasn't a lie. Kyouko did not have any particular grudge against the champion but it was just uncomfortable that she re-experiences that trembling sensation every time Saki's name was mentioned and much more when she's actually present.

"President here's the bag of Pretzels and chips you wanted me to buy. Sorry I took long." Saki who just came from inside the department store to buy and to use the toilet room handed the paper bag filled with goods to Hisa who in turn loaded them in the vehicle.

"Ah, thank you for your hard work, we'll go in five. See you in the parking lot!" Now that Saki has finished doing her business, Hisa felt that they should leave for the hotel immediately to not make those who went ahead of them further. Furthermore, she knows that the other Miyanaga who's already there has the potential of exploding.

"A-Ah yes," Toyone who just recalled their earlier conversation could not look at Saki and jogged after Hisa. She felt that at her current state she would not be able to strike a normal conversation with her idol as her feelings are currently in disarray.

"W-We better go too," Kyouko was in a hurry to leave but a strong grasp around her wrist made her yelp 'kyah'.

"You're staying here for a while." Saki said this in a rather grim manner with a dim look on her face.

"E-Eh? But we have to go."

Kyouko's heart raced as she extended her arms to reach for her teammates but strangely enough it seemed as if they forgot about her as they continued to walk away.

"G-Guys wait! Guys, stahp!" She almost cried calling them but she could not move an inch farther as Saki's strong grasp kept her in one point.

"It's no use Suehara-san; you finally made your first appearance in this work I rather have you stay with me for a bit." Saki's voice continued to become more playful with hints of darkness within her tone.

"D-Damn it Saki, stop breaking the fourth wall! Let me go already!" The purple haired fourth year's eyes were already teary as she continued to try tugging away from the first year.

"But the author of this work is taking her time making the next chapter of our love story and I just can't wait to have my way with you so I requested that I get to do you in this segment of this fic." Saki said this seductively and not long after that Kyouko found herself sitting on that girl's lap who was sitting on a monoblock chair.

"No! That will totally ruin your character in this story and… what's a chair doing in the middle of the walkway?!" The captain of Himematsu could not remember the instant when a chair was even remotely close to them.

"Just one kiss, I'll even close my eyes." True enough Saki closed her eyes as she gently puckered up and leaned in forward to receive her kiss.

"No! W-We can't! Just wait for the next chapter of our story would you?!" Kyouko adamantly rejected the other's advances despite being completely manhandled.

"Mmm… fine…."

Saki sounded disappointed as she made do with just hugging the other girl on her lap from behind and around the waist.

"Still, I wonder if Suehara-san will be a part of my harem in this work, the author seems very inclined of doing just that." Saki had a wishful grin on her face as she whispered this to Kyouko's ear.

"H-Hell no! This is just a onetime appearance. I am not a main character in this work and it will continue like that until it's done! Being violated by you in one story in almost every chapter is too much!" The purple haired girl had a demanding frown.

"Eh? You talk like you're not enjoying this but in truth I can just feel your pulse racing like a metronome on steroids. In fact if I just touch this place here…" Saki playfully and slowly moved her hand downwards to Kyouko's surprise.

"Don't! Stop it already!" Kyouko slapped Saki's hand away who whimpers 'd'aww' after having her hand swatted.

"Fine, I'll concentrate on my character, we've wasted a couple of pages already."

Saki finally allowed Kyouko to stand up from her lap before she stood up herself. Kyouko looked thankful just moving away from Miyanaga Saki.

"But you know, since this is your first and only one of your few chances to appear in this work you might as well make yourself presentable. Lick that cream off the side of your lips." Saki criticised as she pointed at Kyouko's face who twitched her lips and looked downward.

"Ah really? Sorry I didn't notice I-…!"

The instant Kyouko stuck out her tongue to lick her bottom lip someone's own tongue took that chance for an invasion. Her mouth became the stage where their two tongues danced for not more than five seconds in which a string glistening fluid was seen connecting their tips after they parted.

"D-Doh, d-du…" Kyouko was speechless and her eyes were almost white unable to process what just happened.

"That's what you get for trying to avoid me. Bai, bai!" The ace of Kiyosumi happily walked away leaving the captain of Himematsu shocked and devoid of her soul.

"There they go; we need to go as well. Now that we know that Kiyosumi has added another monster to their ranks we need to train more." Kinue said this as she stood waving at Saki who waved back at her before dashing away.

"Y-You guys! You were here all along?!" Kyouko was surprised to see Hiroe and Kinue beside her for she thought she saw them walk away just five minutes ago.

"Yes, you only shook hands with Miyanaga Saki and you forgot about us already? What's wrong with you?" Hiroe looked at her teammate rather worriedly.

"W-Well I…" Before Kyouko could dismiss everything as a part of her imagination she felt something wet beside her lips. She touched it and recognized it as the remnant of the string of saliva that connected their lips just a moment ago.

"Eh? Is that drool? It must've been when you were so happily licking that ice cream. Don't worry it happens to everyone." Hiroe smiled to comfort Kyouko who looked embarrassed. But for some reason Kyouko couldn't accept that explanation especially when Kiyosumi's Hummer just drove by them with one window down and behind that window was a girl who playfully stuck out her tongue saying 'bweh' mockingly.

"Why is it just me?!" Kyouko cried and threw the ice cream cone on the ground. She frantically stepped on it repeatedly as everyone around her gasped after hearing the cracking sounds the cone made as it shattered into bits under Kyouko's shoes.

"W-What's the matter Kyouko? Did you have brain freeze?" Kinue deduced Kyouko's actions as the result of a simple reaction to sudden cold intake even though it was unlikely since the ice cream was almost all gone.

"Ice cream my ass! This is the last ice cream I will ever eat!" After experiencing that, Kyouko swore this day that she will never touch another Ice cream again.

"What's up with that?" Hisa noticed the weird actions of Himematsu's general outside their vehicle's window.

"Must be brain freeze." Saki who still had a smirk on her face tried to answer her president's curiosity.

"Why do you suddenly look happy?" Sweat rolled down Hisa's cheek as she imagined rainbow sparkling aura reside over Saki.

"Happy? Isn't that because we're going on a training camp?" Saki turned to Hisa in reply.

"Y-Yeah…"

Somehow that excuse seemed like a lie to Hisa but she never had a clue and probably will never have as the happenings between the two girls never really happened in this fic but just a minor promotion made by some wilful fanfic author.

"Shiraitodai and your sister are already there. I am surprised; I seriously thought we would've arrived faster than them." Hisa said this to relay Teru's concern to Saki who she thought would be happy over that news.

"Can't wait to play mahjong Saki?" Toyone asked. At this time she already succeeded in recomposing herself and forgot about that embarrassing conversation she had with Hisa. She enjoyed calling Saki by her first name since yesterday when she finally asked Saki for that privilege.

"Um! I'm excited to play with everyone again!" Saki was referring to 'everyone' as a whole but she was mostly excited about playing with Teru again. Since she regained her love for mahjong this will be the first chance she will have to play with her sister again.

"Me too, I'm excited that I can't sit still!" An uninvited voice replied to them from behind.

"President… please tell me why katsudon face over here is coming?" It was rather uncharacteristic of Saki to say this but because of events that happened before today a menacing purple killing aura looms over head every time this professional player is mentioned.

"Come on Miyanaga Saki, forgive me already, I did defend your sister after all." The professional player known to most as the 'reversal queen' hugged Saki from behind and began playfully stretching her face.

"It can't be helped, sorry." Hisa scratched her cheek, she owed Fujita a great amount of favours and allowing her to join this training camp is the least she could do. After all, it was thanks to this 'reversal queen' why Saki and Nodoka pushed themselves more after they got owned badly in Mako's mahjong parlour.

"Please forgive our intrusion." Another person who was sitting at the back joined the conversation. This time it wasn't a mahjong player but rather a reporter who Saki was very familiar with. Her name was Junko and she brought her trusty camera man with her who also bowed in apology.

"Still, you insulted my sister." Saki sent the professional a piercing gaze that drilled through that woman's heart.

"I did not! In fact I praised her showmanship and her abilities! Or are you remembering everything wrong?" Fujita waved her hand and denied the allegations.

"You called her flat…" Saki said this almost in a whisper while pouting and her eyes turned away from Fujita.

"Hey, flat chests are all the rage these days! I read a survey not too long ago that most men prefer chests they can hold in their hands rather than overblown breasts." Fujita said this in a 'most matter of fact' fashion.

"Humph!" Saki snorted in a rather cute fashion that made the tall girl beside her blush and look away.

"I confess, even I, the great Fujita, and am a sucker for flat chests!"

Hisa and Toyone gasped after hearing this while Saki merely turned a questioning look at the professional.

"I mean what's not to love? Their slender waist? Perfect bums?And that body that you can hug infinitely close to your heart? Especially that blonde hair!"

"Wait, wait, wait, I am pretty sure that having blonde hair has nothing to do with being flat! That's just a word for word description of Koromo-chan!" Saki waved her head.

"Ah! Speaking of Koromo, Ryuumonbochi has decided to join our training camp." Hisa remembered her earlier conversation with the president of the Ryuumonbochi Mahjong Club.

"Eh?! Then I'll get to play with Koromo too?!" Despite receiving the drilling nuggies Fujita love to give to people she likes Saki was still able to smile after hearing that news.

"That's great! I haven't seen that kid for a bit of a while now." Fujita too turned to Hisa with happy smile.

"Ahaha, too bad you're not playing with everyone until later on Saki. It's different for Fujita-pro though…" Hisa laughed before giving this rather depressing piece of information that caused Saki to whimper 'eh?'

"Why?" Saki broke from Fujita's hold and was almost tearful after hearing Hisa as she really wanted to play the tiles with Teru once again.

"Because this is a training camp. You have already proven your strength a thousand fold since the past few weeks and I doubt beating everyone to negative will help them get stronger. Not everyone in that training camp are as adamant as the people we know. We can't have them get demoralized." Hisa was telling the truth. While there are extremely powerful and resilient players in this training camp Shiraitodai brought their non-regulars to train too and it would not help those members if they were blasted to inferno in one resounding 'kan'.

"But…." Saki still whimpered beside Hisa.

"Don't worry; you'll still get to play with Teru and the strongest players in the camp. The only difference is that you would act as the champion that you truly are and only fight those who will earn that right."

"Who will earn that right?" Toyone was the first to ask this but even Saki was confused with that statement.

"Shiraitodai's Sumire and I decided to hold a small tournament in the training camp where you and Teru would be the last bosses." Hisa winked and raised her index finger as she said this.

"Eh? T-That's." Saki felt rather embarrassed to be treated like some sort of final boss and felt that she was not fit for the job.

"I think it's a great idea!" Toyone cheered. The idea to have a truly official match against her idol after earning that 'right' is something that excited her.

"Don't be too jolly about it. After all, Koromo and this professional will be joining." Hisa pointed at Fujita who finally stopped from harassing Saki as it's quite evident that the younger Miyanaga had at least forgiven the professional to an extent.

"I've been hearing the name Koromo but who is she?" Toyone was confused as this was the first time she has even heard of the name 'Amae Koromo'.

"Seriously? You don't know her?" Fujita was the one most surprised about Toyone's ignorance of Ryuumonbochi's monster.

"Sometimes because of your outstanding abilities, I forget that you just started entering the competitions." Hisa said this. Toyone was pretty much like Saki who's still a newbie when it comes to mahjong tournaments. While Saki stopped playing Mahjong when her family broke apart, Toyone lived in a secluded village and did not join any competition either.

"Koromo-cha… ah I mean Koromo-san is a powerful mahjong player. She's really strong!" Saki remembered on how Koromo hated being treated like a child and as such she practiced calling her with the honorific of 'san' instead of the more cordial 'chan'.

"Let's not forget that she might also appear." Fujita had a grin on her face while imaging that player's face whom she only referred to as 'she'.

"She?" Toyone continued to ask.

"Are you referring to 'Cold Touka'?" Hisa asked as it's only that girl that she remembered that had real potential that equals or even exceeds Koromo in that team.

"Who else?" said Fujita.

"Cold Touka… last time was a disaster huh?" Saki was all too familiar with Touka's other self. The last time they fought she experienced complete defeat along with Koromo and Fujita-pro. However, even though Saki was already powerful that time she lost, her past self was but a dim fade compared to the shimmering star she is right now. She cannot wait to test her own abilities and compare with the monster of flow control that once dominated her and Koromo.

"This team of Ryuumonbochi is beginning to sound like a lot of fun." Toyone who loves fighting strong opponents shivered in the thought that someone else can rile up Saki other than Miyanaga Teru.

* * *

Meanwhile back in Karuizawa Hotel everything was peaceful between the regular members of all teams while some non-regular members of Shiraitodai kept their prejudice and separated themselves from the others.

One Shiraitodai member, specifically, the president of Shiraitodai was sitting on a chair while reading a book given to her by her secretary to occupy her mind while waiting for her little sister. The book was a manga themed 'incest' which this ace found informative and to her liking.

"Do you need something?" Miyanaga Teru said this out of the blue. She gently placed the book she was reading on the table to properly attend to the person who walked to her.

"I'm…"

"Nodoka Haramura, of course. Thanks to the media there are very few people who do not know you." Teru said this brashly. She was not like this to most people but because of the relationship Nodoka had with a certain girl she found it necessary to treat this girl differently.

"From your conversation earlier, I take it that you already talked to Saki?" Nodoka could still hear in her imagination that awkward conversation she heard between Sumire and Teru. It was easy to tell from that encounter what already had happened but perhaps she was only asking this to strike a conversation?

"What?! No honorifics at all? Hmm you're a more fearsome opponent that I thought before Haramura Nodoka." Teru had a serious look on her face with her chin on her thumb.

"Please don't assume something so suddenly." Nodoka couldn't help but narrow her eyes on her friend's sister. She was rather surprised because she thought that comment was something only Yuki would say.

"What is it then?" Teru stopped herself from making any more roundabout comments and decided on properly talking with Nodoka.

"I just wanted to properly introduce myself. Your sister Saki has helped me so much." Nodoka bowed. She didn't bother saying her name again because it will be redundant and it doesn't look like that Teru is a fan of such.

"Ah, I get it, you're trying to get to know the family of the person you want to propose to. I see now that you truly are a master of strategy. I shouldn't have expected less from the person who is said to have mastered 'digital style' mahjong." Teru gently pounded her palm with a closed fist in a 'aha' gesture as she acted to uncover Nodoka's intentions.

"W-What?! Please stop mincing my words! I don't even know how you got to that conclusion!"

"You will not have my blessing Nodoka Haramura!" Teru sharply pointed at Nodoka like a lawyer who just shouted 'objection!'.

"Those things on the sides of your head, are those your ears?! I don't need your blessing so please don't make your own misinterpretations about what I'm saying!" Nodoka was already flustered at this point. She didn't expect the highly respected 'Strongest Champion' to act like this.

"What? You're not here about Saki? T-Then it must mean…"

A small pause enveloped the area as Teru assumed another thinking pose.

"I'm sorry but, my heart already beats for another person. Please understand." Teru said this very apologetically with one arm stretched and palms open dramatically like in a drama.

"Where did that even come from?! Which one of you sisters is adopted?!" Personally Nodoka thought that Teru would just be an older Saki but all her expectations just now were destroyed. Even so, Nodoka wanted to talk to Teru to prepare talking to Saki about her plight. After all, technical speaking, if she decided to live with Saki then that means she would also be living in the place where Teru used to live which means the older Miyanaga had the right to know at the very least.

"No? Then what's your reason for taking me away from my important research? From what I heard, you're not the type to approach anyone unconditionally. You must have something in your mind than just mindless chatting." Teru asked one last time before picking up the 'incest themed' manga she was reading as she sat down. She took a zip from the glass of mango juice beside her while waiting for an answer.

"D'oh…"

Nodoka gulped, Teru was right, aside from her current mahjong teammates, a few classmates and of course her old acquaintances from Achiga, she was never someone who found it easy to approach other people. In fact, all of the friends mentioned above were friends who approached her rather than otherwise.

"Please, I don't want you to think about this the wrong way. But…" Nodoka seemed to cough to clear her throat a bit, buying time to delay that question.

"Just say your part Haramura; it's up to me on how I will take it." Teru closed her eyes for a bit as she enjoyed her glass of mango juice some more while waiting for Nodoka's question.

"I- I… I want to live with Saki!" Nodoka tried her best not to shout as she embarrassed herself saying this.

"Pfft!"

Teru spilt some of juice, extremely shocked with eyes wide open after hearing this.

"How do you want me to take that?! Are you looking for a fight Haramura Nodoka?!" It was ironic that Teru was finally ready to take Nodoka seriously when Haramura said that with a flustered look.

"N-No, I didn't mean anything bad by that. I- I…" Nodoka tried to correct herself but her own words were beginning to fail her. She doesn't want to admit it but she meant exactly what Teru was thinking about and she couldn't deny this to herself.

"Captain a van just stopped by in front of the hotel could it be them?!" A non-regular member approached and interrupted the conversation of the two. Both Nodoka and Teru sprung to have a look for each their own reasons. Nodoka had to see Saki for her problem while Teru just… well… just simply wanted to see Saki. Nobody noticed Teru sprint to the lobby as any trace of her was reduced to white noise because of her speed while Nodoka was much slower as the things on her chest bounced like crazy and prevented her from running.

The vehicle that arrived was a white van. Mako and the other Kiyosumi members apart from Nodoka immediately knew that it wasn't who everybody was waiting for. Mako Someya knows what vehicle was rented for this trip and she already shared this with her comrades except Nodoka who was too busy trying to talk to Teru.

"Get ready Shoko, the queen of all cheaters have arrived." Yuuko whispered to her best friend beside her who just groaned in reply. When the door opened, nobody came down for the first five seconds until somebody pushed a girl in jersey out.

"Wait that's not Miyanaga Saki…" Shoko was already familiar with how Saki looked due to the studies she made of her plays. She knows that Saki had short brown hair and a slender appearance of moderate height. The person that came out looked as if she was still in middle school and had longer hair.

The non-regular members of the famous Shiraitodai High started whispering with each other. Most were disappointed to have their expectations shattered and said 'aww false alarm', 'who are they?', and 'just a bunch of nobodies'.

"W-What happened? Where's everyone going? I thought we were going to have an intense welcome." Shizuno who was nervous at first gulped at seeing everybody go back inside the hotel.

"I guess we were not the people meant for the red carpet." Harue chuckled as she exited the vehicle. She already had a guess what that was about but she kept it to herself.

"You sound disappointed Shizuno but you were too scared to go down just a second ago." Ako playfully teased her teammate as she too jumped down from the van.

"I'm not the type who likes that much attention anyway." Arata who just fixed her tie to look good in front of everybody was the next to dismount the van.

"Come down no onee-chan everybody's gone." Kuro Matsumi had to escort her big sister out who felt the most nervous after seeing a mob of Shiraitodai students approach their van.

"T-Thank goodness, I was so surprised." The older sister sighed as she allowed herself to be supported by her younger sister as she hopped off the van.

"This is a rather grand hotel they chose… can we afford it?" Arata was rather sceptical.

"With the money we earned from tournaments and sponsors, yes we can. I already calculated everything. It's not going to affect us that much." Harue turned to her favourite pupil and flashed her a thumbs up. Arata blushed and looked away careful not to be noticed by her teammates.

Most of the people who went to greet them are now all gone after learning that it wasn't who they expected. However there were two people who just got there with the same intention.

"S-Slow down Miyanaga-san it's not a race." A pink haired girl who looked like she was about to faint from running said this almost beggingly.

"Nodoka!"

Shizuno cheered in the sight of her old friend.

"A-And… M-Miyanaga Teru…-san." Shizuno remembered the things that happened just this morning and chills ran up her spine. The girl that threatened to do her in for 'violating' Saki is currently staring at her with piercing eyes that drilled holes in her confidence every ticking second.

Teru did not say a single word. Instead she lifted Shizuno quite roughly by the shoulders and set her aside. Then she brushed Ako who was behind the girl in jerseys aside and tilted her head as if she was looking for someone behind them.

"Where's Saki?" These were Teru's first words to the team of Achiga that just arrived.

"They didn't come with us. They haven't arrived yet?" Harue replied for her club. Because Saki and Hisa left earlier with the reporter that tagged along she imagined that they should already have arrived.

"Last time I came in contact with their president she said that they stopped to refuel near a department store. Hmm… maybe…"

"Don't even think about it! I already emailed her pre-emptively to make sure you don't make up such ridiculous assumptions!"

Sumire appeared from behind while waving her mobile phone.

"Hisa said they are now near and they just got delayed because their driver took one wrong turn. They're back on the correct tracks and it shouldn't take them thirty minutes to get here." Sumire explained.

"Good job my secretary! I should've known you'd want to always keep in touch with your girlfriend." Teru gave a 'fist pump' gesture in approval of Sumire's actions.

"Grah! It's not like that!"

"Girlfriend?" Harue turned her head casually to Sumire with the Achiga members.

"Don't listen to this idiot!" Sumire waved her hands in front of her. She couldn't believe that Teru actually said those things in front of everyone.

"For some reason there are many members of mahjong clubs that swing that way. Right Shizuno?" Harue turned to her club member and winked ever so discreetly.

"W-What are you asking me that for?!" At this point Shizuno thought about kicking her coach in the shins but that would be very unlike her and that would make it more suspicious.

Before their conversation could go further, and before Sumire could build her defence, the steps that belonged to a third-party team could was heard moving towards them. They were many and easily caught the attention of the people involved in the conversation.

"It's nice to finally you meet you guys again." It was Touka who spoke first. This is the reunion of Achiga and Ryuumonbochi who has not seen each other since before the nationals.

"Ryuumonbochi!" Ako was jubilant to see the monster team of Nagano. Achiga was specifically thankful to Ryuumonbochi because they were the first people to really train them as a team.

"You there! The general of Achiga!" A small voice belonging to a small girl called out to Shizuno. That petite girl happily pranced forward to greet the tomboy in Jerseys who cheerfully met her in the middle.

"Koromo-chan! It has been a long time!" Shizuno was happy to see the girl who she considered to be extremely powerful.

"That's Koromo-san to you!"

Koromo corrected Shizuno. She didn't like being referred to as 'Koromo-chan' or anything that made her sound cute in particular.

"I watched your game in the nationals! You were terrific!" Koromo lied. Without taking anything away from Shizuno, the final match in the National Team Tournament was not that spectacular for the team of Achiga as it was completely dominated by two people: Awaii and Saki. However, considering the strength of the two monsters it's only natural to say that Shizuno did do well holding on until the final hand which won it entirely for Kiyosumi.

"I barely did anything back then though."

Shizuno herself knew of her shortcomings and did not expect anyone to praise her.

"But that's in the past, what's important that I get to play with Koromo-chan again!" Shizuno made a fist to show her determination.

"It's Koromo-san! Koromo-san!" Amae did her best to get her point through Shizuno but unlike Saki, Takakamo was especially dense to these things.

Just when their conversation was beginning to pick up the sound of a rather large vehicle approaching interrupted them. The vehicle was a Hummer which slowly made its way to the hotel's entrance. Like before, people started to clump together in anticipation but this time the regular members of all teams were in front of the crowd. Non-mahjong players who were there only to speculate were astounded by the flock of girls who waited in front of the Hummer's doors like cute little puppies in front of their master.

Unlike the previous van, someone immediately hopped off the van without minding the crowd waiting for her. This girl had long red hair and though she did not expect what awaited them she was brimming with confidence as she stepped on the concrete floor.

"What's with everyone?" Takei Hisa said this as she finally greeted the people in front of her.

"T-That's Kiyosumi's president!" Shoko recognized the face of the president of the current champion school.

"Really? I don't see anything special about her…." Yuuko commented. Frankly she did not have Kiyosumi in high regards but she at least expected something different from their president.

"Kiyosumi's President where's my…"

"She's sleeping at the back. Let me wake her up." Hisa stopped Teru from saying more. It's great and all that Teru now publicly accepted who Saki was but Hisa wasn't sure on how the public would react to that. She and Sumire agreed that this revelation should happen little by little.

"What? Really? Wait let me ah-…!" Teru was about to go to the opposite side of the Hummer to open the door where Saki seated and wake her up herself but the hard fist of a protective secretary stopped her in her tracks.

"Yes, please do that Hisa." Sumire bowed in front of Hisa while pulling her own president away from the Hummer carefully.

"Eh-he…ehe… okay…."

Hisa scratched her cheek feeling a bit awkward.

"Saki, Toyone, we're here, wake up." Takei Hisa placed one leg and foot inside the vehicle and entered the Hummer half way to shake tap Saki awake. Usually this is Nodoka's job or Toyone's but the first went to the hotel separately and the other was apparently also asleep.

The first to come down of the two was Toyone who was sitting at the middle. She had the 'just woke up' look on her face as she stepped down from the Hummer.

"H-Hwoah, there's really… really many people. Why?" Toyone was surprised and the sight that she saw was enough to scramble her mind awake. She already expected a crowd but after seeing the actual number of people she will be training with it wasn't easy to take.

"The more the merrier right?" Hisa did not bother answer Toyone's question properly and gave a clichéd reply instead.

"Saki come down, everyone's waiting." Hisa called to a girl who was shaking as she took her first peek outside the vehicle

"She's still gets shy pretty easily." Nodoka sighed. She remembered how she used to let Saki cower behind her when people approach her like that time when the team of Ryuumonbochi first inquired about her.

"Yes isn't she adorable?"

"Yes-….! Wait what?" Nodoka didn't even notice whose voice that was but the next thing she saw was the previous champions silhouette passing her.

Miyanaga Teru extended her right arm and hand to welcome her sister. In her imagination she would take that girl's hand gently like a princess and escort her down. Won't that just be so fantastic?

Upon the sight of her sister, Miyanaga Saki did come down off the Hummer. To her that arm extended was a luxurious offer she would not dream to refuse. Since she was a child Saki's slice of paradise was always with her big sister and that hasn't changed much. She then slowly extended her own arms and grabbed that welcoming hand ever so gently. However….

"It's an honour to finally have a training camp with you and the team of Shiraitodai, Miyanaga Teru-san." Saki said this quite fluently and politely. The people around her were astounded on how her attitude shifted in just a second. There was one exception though, one person who was not astounded but turned into a pale white colour as her face cracked like a worn out chalk.

"Critical hit…" Sumire said this to herself as she saw Teru's soul slowly leave its body. Everything in Miyanaga Teru's imagination were smashed.

"_M-Miyanaga Teru-san? W-Why? Are we back to square one? Does she still hate me?_" These were the lingering thoughts inside Teru's head. She remembered on how Saki embraced her just this morning and she couldn't believe that Saki isn't even calling her 'nee-chan' right now.

"You're late Saki-chan!" The Taco loving girl named Yuki Takaoka was still in the process of finishing her Taco as she greeted Saki.

"A-Ah Saki, I…." Nodoka found her chance to talk to Saki and thought about starting immediately.

"Saki!" An extremely cheerful girl with the body of a child dashed to her friend's side and leaped into her arms almost causing the both of them to fall off-balance. Nodoka clenched her hands in a fist irritated because someone just ruined that chance.

"Koromo-cha…-san!" Saki wanted to say more but she couldn't find the right words to greet this friend. It's hard to have a proper conversation with Koromo without treating her like a kid because of her appearance.

"Oh Koromo! We haven't seen each other for quite some time did you miss me?" In a split second, someone's hands took the blond girl away from Saki. Koromo found herself squirming in the arms of an older woman who playfully rubbed her hair much to her dismay.

"Y-You!? Why are you here you stiff heeled so and so?!" Koromo whimpered. Fujita was someone she always avoided because that professional could not restrain herself when in front of Amae.

"Hisa what's the meaning of this?" Sumire worriedly turned to Hisa. Takei Hisa never informed Sumire about the participation of a professional in the tournament.

"I'm sorry she just allowed herself into our Hummer, we couldn't do anything about it." Hisa scratched her head jokingly as she replied.

"Ugh… this joint venture is beginning to blow up. Well at least there's no media." Sumire sighed and smiled at her partner in crime. Hisa's lips twitched at that comment.

"Eh-he, about that…" Hisa guiltily rubbed her right cheek with her right hand's index finger.

"I'm sorry for our intrusion. Please take care of us." The woman who calls herself Junko stepped down from the vehicle with her camera man who already had his camera on his shoulders.

"… Hisa! You bastard!" Sumire grabbed Takei Hisa by her collar and lifted her feet of the ground. She wasn't normally as strong, but desperation is a good source of adrenalin in times like this.

"C-Calm down! Junko is the reporter who did most of Nodoka's interviews, she knows of our plight and she's here to help." Hisa waved her hands left to right in front of Sumire to try and calm her down.

"She's right; I wouldn't want my subjects to get in trouble. Miyanaga Saki and Miyanaga Teru are my current two prime subjects. I wouldn't let anything happen to them." Junk approached the two and even tapped Sumire's arms which were still tense from holding Hisa up.

"F-Fine… but if anything happens in this camp please make sure to cover it." Sumire knew that there was nothing she could do now. She knows this situation is a bomb just waiting to be detonated if not handled properly. Fortunately nobody heard anything from their conversation since everybody was busy looking at the champion who just arrived.

"So that's Miyanaga Saki…." Shoko narrowed her eyes on the brown haired girl who was currently enjoying the company of Fujita, Nodoka and Amae Koromo.

"She seems close to that professional player." Yuuko observed on how Saki was able to casually talk with Fujita. Normally, other mahjong players would avoid talking to such a person out of embarrassment or would just freeze up.

"Okay, let's get close to her and get as much information as we can, it would be-….!"

"Okay we will start our training camp in a bit! All the non-regulars in our school please proceed to the hall in the hotel that we had reserved; this good man will show you there."

A hotel employee instructed to escort the non-regulars stood beside Sumire.

"For a while I want you all to play mahjong by yourselves while the regular players of all teams should follow us." Sumire interrupted everybody as she announced this in front of the four teams.

"Eh? But why do we have to-…!"

"Just do as I say! I already have a lot to deal with don't add to it!" Sumire snarled at the random member who wanted to complain. That member squealed 'eek' before following the other Shiraitodai non-regular members to their designated area.

The regular members, including Saki, were all confused too as they were not properly informed about this. This is only natural because this event was only planned by two mischievous girls who only wanted their teammates to reconcile. But, even though if they didn't have any concept of what's happening they decided to go along with it anyway. Some members such as Yuki wanted to ask questions but Sumire's attitude towards that non-regular discouraged other curious questions. The professional and the reporters also went the same direction as they don't have any business to do with the non-regulars.

"Finally we can get this underway. With any luck we might just be able to push through in one piece." Sumire gave out a sigh of relief.

"Ah, Sumire…" A girl tapped Hirose's right shoulder gently, doing her best not to anger the already frustrated secretary.

"What?!" Sumire snarled at Hisa who's partly responsible for the big headache she's having now.

"Look." Hisa pointed beside Sumire.

Sumire followed the direction Hisa pointed at and saw a pathetic example of a confident pose. By 'pathetic', it means that the girl beside her doesn't look confident at all. A pink-short-haired girl was sitting in a foetal position on the floor while mindlessly trying to cause cracks on the marble floor with a piece of twig she found somewhere.

"T-Teru! What are you still doing here?! The president has to be there!" Sumire frantically encouraged Teru to stand up. She and Hisa frankly still had some things to sort out and with Teru here that's something they're not going to be able to do.

"Leave me alone…. Go have sex in the bathroom or something. Just leave me be." Teru said this provocative and embarrassing statement gloomily.

"Stop saying ridiculous things! Are you really our president?!" Sumire fired up but Hisa restrained her from behind.

"Ne, Saki really loves her older sister a lot." Hisa said this softly to Sumire but it was obvious that she was directing it to Teru in a roundabout way.

"Eh?"

"When we were on the road to here she couldn't keep still because she didn't know how to act in front of Teru. Sure they've finally made up but because Teru once made it clear to everyone that she had no sister. Saki's scared to soil her sister's reputation because if it becomes publicly known that Teru lied then it would have serious implications." Hisa said this in an almost motherly fashion.

"Ah, I get it…. And since Teru's in the point where her reputation is her key to good colleges, Saki doesn't want to ruin that chance for her." In the middle of Hisa's line Sumire already understood what Hisa was doing. She wasn't sure if what Hisa was saying was true but it does have an effect on the Shiraitodai president who was now intently listening to them with tearful eyes.

"I see… so then it's like that last time again."

Teru interrupted the two's conversation but it didn't matter since everything they said were pretty much directed at her. All of a sudden, she had a melancholic look in her eyes as if a depressing realization just hit her.

"When we got caught in the rain, instead of worrying about herself, she even tried giving me her coat and the hat that tall idiot loaned to her." Teru remembered the event yesterday that forced open her feelings that shattered her stubbornness which allowed her to talk to Saki.

"I know some people who would wish that to happen to them." Hisa remembered the time when Nodoka chased Saki from the mahjong club even though it was raining. It was their first meeting and unlike what Saki did for Teru; Saki just continued to walk away without sheltering Nodoka from the rain. Although one can say that it was only natural because that meeting was their first 'mutual' encounter it was still a good comparison.

"She shows so much more maturity more than I do. I'm embarrassed at myself. I was so immature that I could not approach my own little sister and even now she's looking after me rather than I should be looking after her. Sometimes I wonder if…."

"Oi, don't burden yourself with self-pity now! Your little sister worked hard to finally get to you. It's only fair that you meet her halfway from now on." Sumire spiritedly patted her captain on the back.

"Saki? Mature? She may act that way in front of you, but that's only because you're the person she wants to impress the most. When we had training camps she would always moan in her sleep like a baby and the words that come from her mouth all pertain to you. Until now it was only us that could give her the little support that we can, but now isn't it time for you to take that mantle?"

Hisa's little speech rewarded her Teru's full attention. Teru no longer had that crest fallen look she did after realizing her shortcomings.

"Back there, it was impossible for Saki to be affectionate because she was nervous of the crowd. But now that there are only regular members of all teams, maybe she can be a bit more cordial. Go in there 'big sister'." Hisa winked at Teru while emphasizing on the words 'big sister'.

"... Um!" Without saying anything, Teru nodded to Hisa like an obedient girl and started running off. She had a cheerful and hopeful expression on her face.

"You really know what to say don't you?" Sumire didn't want to admit it but Hisa handled that situation perfectly.

"Thanks but you have to hurry after her."

"Hmm? Why?" Sumire turned curiously to Hisa with a confused look on her face.

"Because she just went the opposite direction…."

"W-What? Oh sh-…. Damn it! I forgot! She's also a monster class student when it comes to getting lost!" Sumire dashed off after Teru with a grim look on her face.

"You heard all that right?" Hisa said this as soon as Sumire was out of sight.

"It's not like I didn't know the truth. I was in that hot-spring when we talked about it remember?" A girl with golden hair appeared behind Hisa. She was alone as the rest of her teammates have already gone to the regular's meeting room.

"Ah, then you're here for?" Hisa turned to Touka Ryuumonbochi who purposely stayed behind to talk to Takei Hisa.

"Back in the phone, you said you wanted help with something?" Touka replied.

"Of course! Sorry, I almost forgot. Well the thing is…." Hisa explained everything to Touka.

"… is that all? Hageyoshi!"

Touka snapped her fingers and in just a split second a black gust appeared behind her to reveal an extremely dutiful butler who was ready to serve her.

"Can I leave everything to you?" Touka asked. This was not a serious question though since she already knew the answer beforehand.

"Of course madam." With another courteous bow, the butler graciously accepted her orders and vowed to complete the job perfectly.

* * *

Meanwhile inside the regular's meeting room the members of all teams were happily mingling but the champion of course was having most of the spotlight. One Kiyosumi player had the most intentions to get close to her friend but was having a hard time because of the circumstances around her.

"Umm… Saki…." Nodoka walked up to Saki.

"Saki-chan!" A blonde girl leaped to embrace Saki.

"A-Awaii…." Saki recognized the girl who was currently rubbing cheeks with her.

"Damn blond bastards…." Nodoka once again clenched her shaking fists as she begins to form unreasonable hatred for blonde people remembering how Koromo interrupted their conversation a while ago.

"It's been so long Saki-chan! Well sure we met in the championships but this is the first time we'll really get to bond again!" Awaii said this playfully as she continued to systematically combine her face with Saki's left cheek.

"I-It's nice to finally meet you again too Awaii." Saki was seriously happy to be able to talk to her childhood friend but the tight hug and face-rubs were beginning to suffocate her.

"You two know each other Saki?" Toyone's left cheek had a sweat-drop rolling on it as she couldn't imagine another rival entering the picture.

"We were neighbours back then when we were kids."

Awaii replied for Saki who couldn't talk from being squeezed.

"But you're mean Saki-chan, you promised me back then that we'll be together forever but you broke that promise."

"P-Promise?! Together forever?!" Toyone shrieked a bit after hearing that.

"Yes, but I'm sure you only delayed your promise. I'm certain one of these days will finally be together again. Ne?" Awaii lovingly wrapped an arm around Saki from behind while using her other hand to gently caress the other girl's hair.

"U-Uhh…" Saki seriously didn't know how to respond to that. Awaii has always been like that since she was a child. She remembered making that promise that they, Saki and Teru, will be together with Awaii someday but it wasn't something she was ready to fulfil any time soon.

"_W-Who is this overly aggressive person?_" Nodoka was already half pissed. Not only did this girl interrupt her, she was also pestering Saki with these advances.

"Okay everyone! We're ready to start!" The door leading outside the meeting room swung open. Four people simultaneously entered the room. Three of those people, namely the three presidents of three of the teams, looked quite cheerful while the last one looked extremely frustrated.

Sumire and Hisa stood on the stage in front while Teru and Touka went with their teams.

"Aren't you going to your team Oohoshi-san?" Toyone asked this of Awaii who was still hugging Saki from behind.

"What for? The goal of this four way team-training camp is to bond with each other right? Then I'm doing exactly just that." Awaii impressively justified her actions with that logic before tightening her embrace around Saki who whimpered 'kyuu' softly in response.

"N-No, it's to strengthen our abilities! You need to go back now!" Toyone started pulling on Awaii's arms to separate her from her captain.

"No! I dun wanna!" Awaii stubbornly held to Saki with both arms like a Koala on a Eucalyptus tree trunk.

"Quiet!" Shouted a very frustrated secretary. This was enough to shake Toyone back to her seat while Awaii stuck her tongue out teasingly at the tall girl.

"Hisa, please explain our first activity." Sumire decided to pass everything to Hisa. She knew that she was already too cranky to explain things and it might not be healthy for anyone for her to force herself in doing that.

"Okay, for our first activity we will be doing something that will be very instrumental into improving our mahjong abilities..."

"_Something that will improve our mahjong abilities further? Is it going to be a sparring match between the four schools?_" At this point Nodoka decided to leave that issue about asking Saki for a bit and decided to listen to her president.

"We're going to play! M-M…. King's game!" Hisa playfully cheered.

"How is that going to help us in mahjong!?" Nodoka whose expectations were greatly shattered stood up in protest.

"W-What are you talking about? It's so obvious that I don't even have to explain myself. Here have a banana." Hisa tossed a banana at Nodoka who caught it perfectly.

"A-A banana?!" Nodoka wanted to complain again but she knew what that banana implied. Usually when Hisa gives out bananas it means 'go enjoy yourselves' or 'I don't fucking know what I'm doing ehehe'. Usually it meant the first one but right now it seriously seems like the second one.

"…Actually, where did you get the banana? Ah forget it. Continue…." Sumire was rather curious but she gave up before things got weirder.

"For those who don't know what the King's Game is, it's simple. In this basket are papers numbered according to the total number of the people inside the teams with three additional."

With four teams that would be twenty but since Fujita and Harue are there that makes twenty-two. However there's also Toyone who was a relatively new member of Kiyosumi so that makes it twenty-three.

"Of course the number only ranges from one to twenty-two because the twenty-third paper is marked with a crown as it's the 'king's' paper." Hisa continued to explain.

"Oh-ho a king's game. This will be a good addition to the show. How the ladies of mahjong spend their leisure time in training." Junko was happy to know and film such an event. Truly it would be kind of boring if her show or documentary would have nothing but mahjong in it.

"U-Umm what does the king do?" Saki struggled to raise her hand as a blond girl continued to dot and restrain her from behind.

"Ah of course… _it's only normal for this girl not to know this…. _For our King's Game. The king gets to pick a maximum of two numbers. The owner of that number or owners of those numbers will be forced to do whatever the king orders." Hisa replied.

"Remember, the king's orders are absolute. Unless it's 'kill yourself' you must obey it. Any further questions?" Sumire regretted the fact that she had to ask that as the hand of a certain president came up.

"How about erotic stuff?" Asked the girl with a serious look on her face.

"Ugh… w-well…"

"Yes, even erotic stuff." Hisa replied for Sumire for she knew that the secretary did not have what it takes to reply. True enough, what she said received some yelps and whimpers in the room and at least seven members there were blushing all the way to their ears.

"So I guess to start, let's form a circle to make this more organized…" The room they had picked was perfect for their activity. It was originally some sort of 'dance activity' room for the hotel designed in case dances, singers or performers were to come and rent the place. Therefore there were very little tables and chairs that they had to set aside.

"Nobody's allowed to look at their number until everyone already has a strip. Suga-kun here will make sure of that." Hisa patted the back of Kyoutarou Suga who was the only non-regular player that was allowed to go there.

"You can count on me!" Suga nodded. For him the thought of 'erotic stuff' commands were arousing. Even if he's not in the game, the possibilities make him imagine of a rather lewd Nodoka.

"Okay, let's start! Everybody form a circle already!" Hisa encouraged everyone to follow her instructions. She was taken differently by the members. Some were very willing to comply while some were just dragging their feet by the orders of their president. The first to pick was the very eager Yuki who tried to bypass the 'not looking rule' but was immediately caught by Suga.

"Okay! Let's see who's the king!" They cheered at the same time as they raised the strips of papers they drew to see their numbers. Even those who were against it looked spirited as they said this out loud.

"Alright!" Shouted the victorious king who almost crushed the paper in her triumphant roar. However, Jun Inoue didn't really have anything in mind what to do with her king status. Drawing the king's paper certainly made her feel a bit like a lottery winner but she didn't have any idea what order to give to anyone at that point.

"You have to pick a number and give an order now." Hisa reminded Jun of the rules and encouraged her.

"I know, I know, hmm… how about the numbers nine and thirteen!"

Jun said this brightly while two girls gulped on their saliva guiltily while waiting for their orders. They did their best not to react as the decision of the king might be altered not to their favour if they did.

"Number nine; slap number thirteen hard in the face!" Jun finally made a decision and exclaimed. Of course this wasn't something she personally enjoyed and prepared for, but rather something that came into her mind just in the spur of the moment.

"Well I'm number nine so who's the girl I should slap?" Number nine happened to be Sumire Hirose whose eyebrows twitched after seeing the owner of the number opposite to her in the condition.

"N-Now Sumire no need to take that order seriously." Hisa who unfortunately got the number thirteen was waving her hands while backing away a bit as Sumire stood up and slowly approached her.

"Oh but the orders of king are absolute! Just grin and take it eheh." For the first time today, Sumire actually looked thrilled to do something.

"W-Wait, Sumire uwah!" Before Hisa could say anything more, the whip-like sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed inside the room and even outside of the door it was clearly heard. There were mixed reactions inside the room, some of the girls were freaked out and even backed away while there were some, like Yuki, who looked more excited after seeing someone spin three times horizontally in the air after getting hit by a demon's palm.

"Gosh that looked like it hurt, but you two are… wait is this what's called S and M?" Miyanaga Teru clapped her hand once in that 'eureka moment'.

"Order me to slap her too!" Sumire turned to Jun almost begging for that command while frantically swinging her index finger at Teru.

"Ah-ha-ha, sorry but the king can only order someone once in her turn." Hisa who had a rather reddened left cheek had to intervene to keep the rules. She was tearful as she tried rubbing the pain away from her left cheek which had an engraved palm mark on it.

Almost as if nothing happened everybody formed a circle again to draw as they shouted 'who's the king!' spiritedly.

"Got it!" Cheered the little pigtailed girl who managed to draw the crown to the dismay of everyone else. Unlike Jun however, this girl had something clear she wanted and it wasn't very hard for her to impose.

"I have a feeling what this is going to be…." Smirked Jun after a disappointed sigh. Usually the fun in the game was to guess what the 'king' would demand, but this girl was very easy to predict and there was no possible way not to know what she would want.

"Number five! I order you to bring me fifty tacos!" Shouted Yuki triumphantly as she dished her demands like a tyrant on the throne.

"Fifty tacos?! That's too much even for you pipsqueak!" Jun, even though she wasn't number five, couldn't help but react to that number.

"She's right, that's too much and I don't think that can even be done." Hisa waved her hand about to turn down the order of the king for its absurdity.

"Eh? But the king's orders are absolute!" Yuki's eyes were brimming with tears at this point because she really expected compliance.

"Yeah but…"

"Don't worry about it, something this simple is trivial." Interrupted another girl. This girl happened to be the person who drew the number five and is therefore the target of the king's order.

"Hageyoshi!" With a snap, Touka summoned her butler to her side in ridiculous, almost instantaneous fashion. However to everyone's curiosity, especially those who were already used to Hageyoshi, he was wearing a jumpsuit with white shirt underneath. He had a bandana on his forehead and a hammer strapped around his waist, to be simple; he looked like a carpenter.

"Give this friend of ours fifty of your best Tacos." Touka commanded.

"Immediately Madam!"

To the surprise of Shiraitodai's and Achiga's members, the butler pulled out a grill, stove and pan out of nowhere and started making these intricate, fast and complex moments that were almost invisible to the naked eye. It only took about five minutes for Tacos to pile up on one tray and in ten minutes there were fifty Tacos. It incredibly looked like magic since the Taco shells themselves need to cook for fifteen minutes but this guy created fifty tacos in ten minutes. You can actually see blur as tacos appeared from seemingly out of the aether. What was more incredible was that he was able to say narcissistic one-liners such as 'ill do this very skilfully!' or 'stupendous!' or even 'marvellous!' while cooking.

"Here you go young miss, I hope you enjoy them." The butler in a carpenter's outfit bowed politely and placed three baskets of tacos in front of the eager lady whose eyes were shimmering in excitement just to smell the freshly baked delight in front of her.

"Uwah damn it I should've ordered for a hundred!" Yuki shook her head in dismay.

"Nope… I definitely think that fifty is way more than enough." Nodoka said this in the background as she watched Yuki shamelessly devour one taco after another like Pacman on steroids.

"As expected of my master…" Suga said this in a soft whisper while scratching his cheek. Even though he already improved in baking tacos especially for the taste of that Capybara it's easy for him to see how much more training he needed. It was awkward for him to feel that taco baking has become somewhat a 'job' for him and he's even beginning to consider about building a career behind it.

"Hageyoshi, how's the job going? Takei Hisa said that it needs to be done by tomorrow." Touka asked Hageyoshi in a whisper about something related to what Hisa asked of her just before coming here.

"Everything's working fine madam. I am sure everyone will be delighted. I am a skilful butler after all." Hageyoshi had a modest grin on his face as he reported. It's not sure if it's in every professional butler's nature to be narcissistic but Hageyoshi was someone who was very proud of his work and very confident about his abilities. With a nod from Touka this busy butler disappears to resume his stalled work in a place no one knows where.

"Ahaha, we've paused long enough I think… let's continue on?" Hisa subtly sighed. The game isn't really getting its desired effects probably because of the sheer number of the players involved. After all, they designed this meet up only for Kiyosumi and Shiraitodai.

"Who's the king!?" Shouted everyone for the third time but this time around more enthusiastic than before.

"Alright!"

A certain professional fist pumped her fist in victory. Whimpers of 'aww' can be heard across the room. Immediately her eyes panned to the direction of a child-like girl who was holding her paper near her chest. Because of the awkward way the girl was holding her paper, she managed to glance on a curve arching at the bottom of the piece.

"_A curve arching inwards in the bottom, there are only a few numbers that has that! Number six and number eight, since I don't see any separate strokes which will indicate the number 'one' the numbers sixteen, eighteen and ten are already out of the picture! But what is it?! Six or eight?_" Fujita gritted her teeth desperately looking for clues.

"Is there something wrong Katsudon-san?" Saki seemed to notice the troubled look on Fujita's face.

"Nothing it's… eh?"

Fujita was about to make the impression that she couldn't choose a number when she caught a glimpse of Saki's number as if that girl was purposely showing it to her. It was the number six. Immediately her mind was cleared of trouble like an enlightened Buddha.

"Thank you Miyanaga! If you're the number six then I choose number eight to sit on my lap and allow me to hug her for the rest of the game!" Fujita sharply pointed to Koromo who gasped 'geh' in surprise.

"Eh?! But I'm number six." Koromo showed her piece of paper and indeed it was the number six, clear as day.

"Eh but… Saki Miyanaga has-…!"

Before Fujita can speak more, Saki subtly flash her paper and showed the number 'sixteen'. She was covering the number one mark so that its bottom stroke could not be seen. Furthermore, Saki was whistling while looking sideways before she stuck out her tongue playfully while avoiding eye contact from Fujita whose mouth dropped open.

"_S-She's still mad from that…._" Fujita noticed the teasingly dark grin on Saki's face that was facing her direction.

"Well, the king can't be refused…" The tallest girl in that room had a shade of pink on her cheeks as she complied with the king's misdirected demands.

"W-Wait Anetai you don't have to- oof!" It's unfortunate that the rule of the game is a double edged sword for the king as she can't 'retract' her orders in the same way that her demands cannot be refused. The professional player had to spend the entire rest of the game in the shadow and under the weight of a girl at least a two feet taller than her. From that point on, the word 'flat (pettanko) is something she considered forbidden in the presence of the 'Rinshan Princess'.

"Who's the king?!" The girls shouted except forYuki who still hasn't finished her basket of tacos and Fujita who was still lamenting behind and under Toyone. The two mentioned still took their respective papers although Fujita had to have Toyone draw for her without looking at the paper.

"Finally!" This time it was a blonde haired girl who won. How comedic it was that the richest girl there won the king's paper. Touka who was used to ordering people finally has her turn in this game after being in the receiving end two turns ago. She had this incomprehensible stare directed at Nodoka that almost physically manifested as purple tendrils.

"E-Excuse me I think I have to go to the toilet." Nodoka took her 'Etopen' and started walking away but two pairs of arms restrained her.

"You can't leave during the king's decree!" Shizuno held Nodoka by her arms and pulled her back.

"She's right, we played punishments before back in middle-school you should know better!" Ako added. Back then they would play 'truth or dare' games that would have ridiculous consequences so these two are enjoying the game so far.

"Now Haramura Nodoka, try this bunny outfit for me!" Out of nowhere, Touka pulled out a white box laced in red ribbon. She ripped it open to show everyone the outfit. It was colour black and looked extremely tight around the waist for someone like Nodoka. The top almost looked like a one-piece bathing suit except that it was more of a tube that had a puffy circular tail on its rear. For its leggings it had stringed stockings quite similar to those used by strippers in a bar and it's this fact that made most people in the room sweat. Lastly of course there was a ceramic bunny-headband which did not look like a cheap imitation of bunny ears.

"Eh?! T-Touka!" Hajime who was beside Touka cried. Last week, she remembered that her president/master ordered for a bunny outfit be made with specific measurements. She thought that it was something for the team but it's now clear that it was made for someone else. This is boggling to her since they just entered the training camp without notice so there should've been no reason for Touka to bring such a thing. Questions rose in Hajime's mind if Touka always had costumes with her specifically for Nodoka or if this was just a big coincidence.

"T-That's indecent I simply can't- p-president!" Nodoka turned to Hisa for comfort hoping that her trusted president would help in her defence.

"I'm sorry Touka but, you need to pick a number. Rules are rules." Hisa waved her finger. Even though Touka was helping her unconditionally with something she couldn't simply bend the rules for her which will alienate everyone else even if it's just a game.

"Fine then."

Touka waved the locks on her hair confidentlybefore stretching out her right arm and pointed directly at Nodoka.

"Number… four." Touka said this in a deep and low voice.

"…"

Nodoka and everyone else in the room paused. Some gathered beside Nodoka to check her number while some just examined the look on Nodoka's face.

"I- I think I need to go to the toilet." Nodoka casually stood up and started to walk away again.

"Oh no you don't! The king's orders are absolute!" Ako pulled Nodoka back by the waist while Shizuno grabbed her by the left arm.

"We'll help! Let's strip her!" Shizuno invited others to join in before jumping on her friend to carefully undo Nodoka's dress.

"Koromo wants to join in too!" Koromo jumped cheerfully before dashing to help the others. Koromo had no 'desire' to do such a thing but it was always amusing to her when she's joining other people in jolly activities.

"N-Noo! Saki help me!"

Nodoka only had undies left unstripped when she was trying to crawl away while reaching for Saki. To her surprise and dismay, Saki's face was flustered red and the girl was clearly avoiding eye contact with her, looking sideways while whistling.

"_She's enjoying this?!_" Nodoka felt disappointed a bit but she could not help but feel tingly knowing that she can make Saki's cheeks pink with just that. But then again, she did not have enough time to properly think that through since she was being dragged back by a bunch of playful girls like how the marines from alien movies were dragged into a bottomless pit.

"It seems like they're having fun…. What's happening?" Fujita asked Toyone who was still sitting on her lap and blocking her view.

"Haramura-san is being stripped and made to wear a bunny outfit. Want to see?" Toyone replied and prepared to tilt sideways to give Fujita a window.

"Haramura Nodoka? Nah, not flat. Carry on then." Fujita had an excited look at the start but then she was informed that it was Nodoka and Nodoka's figure doesn't exactly arouse her taste. She thought that if it was Koromo she would've forcefully tossed Toyone aside just to watch or even join in on the fun.

It took them roughly around ten minutes to have Nodoka change to the bunny outfit. Then, it took everyone roughly around thirty minutes talking about it, teasing her and ogling her until she was about to cry.

"S-Stop it this is embarrassing." Nodoka covered her chest. Even though the outfit doesn't blatantly reveal them, there were still lots of skin exposed and it was rather embarrassing.

"But it fits you so much Nodoka!" Shizuno gave her pinked haired friend a 'thumbs-up'. After five seconds though, she made the mistake of turning her head right where Saki was seated. Immediately thoughts ran into her head and questions like 'what if those slender thighs where in that dress?' or 'wouldn't her bums look exquisite in a tightly fit suit such as that?'. Immediately Shizuno had to cover her face because she was afraid blood would rush through her nose if she didn't.

"Eh?" Saki noticed Shizuno's reactions but was oblivious to its meaning. She confusedly tilted her head to the left and scratched her right cheek gently asking herself 'what the matter was'.

Meanwhile, while Shizuno was able to stop herself by covering her nose, someone almost fainted and dropped on the floor if not for Hajime who caught her on her lap. As Touka's personal maid, Hajime always had a small Japanese Style Fan with her which she now used to fan her master's face to rejuvenate her.

"Touka! Hold yourself together!" Hajime held Touka's head up with one hand as she continued to fan for her with hopes to revitalizing her stricken master. Touka raised her hand to Hajime and Hajime responded to it by dropping her fan and tightly grasping her master's reaching hand.

"Hajime, I was right. Those blobs of fat are really no good. They're weapons of mass destruction. I- I will go first. Make sure Koromo always eats healthily. Buh…" With one final sigh, Touka's arm went limp and dropped on the floor as she lost strength.

"No! Touka! Toukaaaa!" Hajime's mournful cries echoed outside the room and enthralled everyone who heard her.

"… Suga, please help ah…" Hisa turned to Kyoutarou Suga for help but only a man pathetically lying on the floor with his face smeared in blood was there.

"Don't sweat it, I'll take them. Just give us a few minutes okay?"

Jun volunteered. Jun, being the tallest of all Ryuumonbochi, easily managed to carry Touka on her back. At first she tried snapping her fingers to summon Hageyoshi but apparently it seems that only Touka can do that. Everybody waited twenty minutes before Jun came back without Hajime and Touka.

"Uh… Junko…" The camera man looked at the journalist for her opinion regarding this matter.

"We'll edit it… we have to." Junko knew what the camera man was about to ask. Maybe they can show a bit of flesh, but in no way would they allow the actual 'stripping' be shown on public. That would get the attention of some activists that might prove to be detrimental to the players and to the show.

"Hajime stayed with Touka." Jun explained before going back to her place.

"That's for the better I suppose. We'll have to remove two numbers."

Hisa crumpled and threw out numbers twenty-one and twenty-two to fit the new size.

"Let this round be the last round, before anything fatal happens." Hisa was beginning to get worried as events out of her calculations were beginning to happen.

"I agree, besides it's beginning to get late. After this, we should all go eat and we will hand out the room assignments me and Hisa came up with." Sumire nodded. Because of everything that happened after her turn, she wasn't feeling too frustrated anymore and was able to smile for a change.

Nobody noticed but before they started the round, the winds of destiny have already gathered around the right hand of one girl who had a determined look on her face. As if there were no other paper in that basket, as if the crown wasn't buried in that pile; her hand automatically snatched the paper that promised victory. Everybody who drew had no idea that their chances of winning in that round were null for the monster that terrorized the mahjong world for two straight years have awakened.

"I am the king!" Shouted the girl who held the king's paper in her hand.

"She declared it even before she looked at it! Tch. So this is Miyanaga Teru." Toyone was someone who would usually enjoy seeing someone strong. But, she saw Teru as a rival in something so it wasn't as fun to see this.

"R-Remember Teru, you have to call by numbers." Sumire's fear returned. She remembered that it was Teru who asked about 'erotic stuff' awhile ago and by god it will be disastrous if something like that happened here in front of the media.

"I will call two numbers, the first number!"

Teru sharply pointed at a girl named Takami Shibuya.

"Number seventeen! Takami! I order you to gather all of Shiraitodai non-regular members in this room, now!"

"Y-Yes captain, I- I mean my king, I mean-…"

"Just go!" Sumire slapped Takami's shoulder. She saw the sharp look in Teru's eyes, the same eyes that got her respect and the same eyes that brought fear to everybody this president-playing-vanguard on the table.

"And for the second number?" Hisa noticed that Teru was taking her time before calling out the second number. She wondered if Teru was thinking of it or if she had something in mind.

"Let's wait for everybody." Teru grinned at Hisa.

The group had to anxiously wait for twenty minutes before everyone was gathered in front of the door inside the room. Because there were rather many non-regulars, the regulars of all teams had to make space and moved to the opposite side of the room while Teru stayed in the middle while the non-regulars were directly in front of the door. They were confused and some of them were talking to one another speculating about reasons why they were called.

"Everyone's here except Shoko and Yuuko your highness." Takami was still roleplaying at that point.

"Where are they?" Sumire interrupted and asked.

"They said that the two of them bought some food awhile ago and hasn't come back. It hasn't been long since they separated from the group. I'm sure they will be back but I couldn't find them awhile ago." Takami replied.

"Its fine, the majority of the club is here anyway. Now as for the second number. Saki, or should I say number nine?"

Teru walked to Saki and gently held her hand and pulled her slowly to stand up. She led her to come with her to the middle of the room in front of the non-regulars.

"M-Miyanaga Teru-san?" Saki was at loss for words. She was confused on what order it was that Teru had in mind and why she had to be in front of all the Shiraitodai mahjong club members.

"These are the king's orders, my orders."

Teru went behind Saki, leaned over and placed her arms around her shoulders in a gentle and caring embrace.

"Tell them who I am and what I really am to you." Teru said this softly yet everyone in the room was still able to clearly hear her.

"E-Eh? T-Teru-sa…"Before Saki could complain, Teru's index finger touched her lips.

"I cannot erase the past or take back the time I wasted being stubborn when I was pushing you away. But at least help me undo this one mistake." Teru's gentle smile reminded Saki of those days she cherished that she kept going back to in her dreams.

"But-…!"

"The king's orders are absolute." Teru winked and placed one hand on Saki's hair to rub her gently as she did years back.

"I- I…"

Saki paused for a moment and looked at the crowd in front of her. They all expected an answer and were eagerly waiting for something.

"M-Miyanaga Teru is one of the most important people of my life. She's my irreplaceable big sister!" At that point Saki felt like she wasn't talking to a crowd but rather to herself. It's like she's telling herself that 'finally she can truly reunite with her sister' this time not only just to themselves but to the eyes of everyone. Sure she was incredibly flustered but that's only because of the gushing happiness that took over her entire body. Yesterday her sister finally acknowledged her and just now she was freed from that burden that separated the two of them in the eyes of the public and the media. For her these two days were truly the happiest days of her life yet.

"E-Eh?! What?! No really?!" These were the words of the surprised non-regular members of the Shiraitodai mahjong club. All the regular members of all teams already knew of this but they still smiled at this event except for particular individuals who clicked their tongues in disappointment because someone just took a big leap in that 'flag war' they were having like they were in a galge.

"Did you hear that? Now that you've heard it, don't you forget it. Engrave it into your minds that Saki Miyanaga is my beloved sister. You people there too!"

Teru swung to the direction of Junko and her camera man with right hand's index finger pointed forward.

"The asshole that declared she had no sister is a pathetic and stubborn insect who could not face herself! This is the sister that I'm proud of!"

"O-Oneechan!" Saki gasped, she was worried about what her sister just said in front of the camera. Before she could continue, she received the warmest and tightest embrace yet from Teru.

"That's right! That's who I am, your oneechan. I don't mind you calling me that over and over!" Teru was sincerely Jubilant about all this. They made up yesterday but it felt like this was the legitimate moment of their reconciliation. She wasn't sure on how the public would take this but that didn't matter anymore. She knew that if she really wanted to have Saki again then she would have to destroy all barriers that separated them including the one she made by making that stupid declaration a few months ago.

Behind them, a pink-haired girl in a bunny outfit stood up and started clapping. It didn't take awhile before a girl in her jersey did the same, then everyone followed.

"I'm happy for you Saki." Nodoka whispered. She was happy to see her best-friend finally accepted by the person she chased all this time. She was so happy that she almost forgot about that problem she had to talk about with Saki. She decided that it wasn't the proper time and she will just have to find that opportunity later on after this tear-jerking moment.

"T-This is great!" Shizuno said this in an almost 'forced' tone.

"You seem sad. Problems?" Harue whispered to her member who noticed the slightly sad expression on Shizuno's face.

"W-What? Stop it!" Shizuno wanted to throw an elbow at Harue but she couldn't possibly do something that would ruin this moment.

"Don't be upset, because she publicly announced their relationship as sisters that gives you an edge since it would be incest if Teru was chosen right?" Arata whispered.

"E-Eh?"

"You seem happier now." Arata continued.

"J-Just stop it okay?!" Shizuno was almost crying when she told Arata off. But thinking about it, Arata was right. Now that it's publicly known that Saki and Teru are sisters, it's entirely possible that Teru will be forced to leave 'that route'. Knowing this, Shizuno was secretly rejoicing while sincerely cheering for Saki.

"You win this time Miyanaga Teru…. But I will not hand over Saki to the likes of you…." Toyone said this even as she clapped for Saki's fortune.

"If you're going to make an internal monologue like that please make sure no one's near enough to hear you." Fujita who was just a foot behind whispered to Toyone.

"Ah Fujita-pro, sorry I broke the king's order. Should I sit on your lap again?" Toyone remembered that order.

"Don't bother! Besides with this the game is over. Isn't it Takei Hisa?" Fujita smirked in the direction of one of the founders of this training camp.

"You sisters just break my expectations each time you do something. If that's everything then I guess it's finished."

Hisa walked to the middle and tapped both Saki's and Teru's shoulder.

"With this the King's Game is over! Enjoy everything here and later on Sumire and I will give the regulars the room assignments! Then tomorrow, the true training camp begins!"

Hisa took the king's paper from Teru.

"So says the king." Hisa smiled and her smile was returned by Saki and Teru.

* * *

Next chapter preview:

"Okay, as I said today's the official start of the training camp! We'll be holding a tournament amongst ourselves and this will include everyone! Even the non-regulars." Hisa was on the stage as she announced the opening of the tournament she and Sumire designed for the four teams.

Meanwhile:

"Saki, may I ask you something? Is it okay if I-… I…."

"Hmm? Nodoka are you alright? What is it?" Saki noticed the troubled look on her friend's face. Nodoka has always been vocal about everything so she wondered what it was so dreadfully important that Nodoka was hesitating to tell her.

In another part of the hotel:

"What do you mean she's living alone?!" Teru shouted in a hoarse voice.

"Y-You didn't know? According to our reports, Saki Miyanaga has been living alone for the past few months now since her err I mean your father left abroad." Sumire was shocked to know that Teru was oblivious to this important information.

"That sorry excuse for a man left Saki alone?! And I didn't even know about it?!"

"Wait Teru where are you going?! Teru!" Sumire tried to stop her captain but the furious stomps of the older sister could not be stopped she left the direction of her little sister's room.

"I'm not letting you live alone Saki! You're coming home with me!"

"B-But oneechan I can't leave my teammates. I promised-…!"

"I am not letting you live alone! Never again!"

"But oneechan!"

"She's not living alone! Because Saki has, Saki has…"

Well that's it for the preview of the next chapter. Sorry this chapter came out so late. Ni no kuni came, then project diva f, and there were some personal matters to. Anyway I am back on track. Sorry again. I hope you all enjoy this.


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